JERUSALEM, May 20, 2018 (WAFA) – Several Palestinians demonstrated at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Sunday to protest the death due to medical negligence of Palestinian prisoner Aziz Oweisat, a resident of Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli police attacked the protesters using clubs, tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets causing several injuries and forced them to disperse, according to WAFA correspondent in the city.

Oweisat, 53, who was serving a 30-year prison sentence, died on Sunday at an Israeli hospital following serious deterioration on his health, reported the Palestinian Prisoner‘s Club (PPS), which accused the Israel Prison Services of medical negligence after Oweisat has suffered several complications on his health and refused calls to release him to get medical treatment despite its knowledge of the seriousness of his health.

Oweisat was arrested in March 2014 despite his serious health condition on charges of attempting to blow up a pipeline supplying gas to the settlement of Armon Hanatzif, built on expropriated Jabal al-Mukaber land.

At one point in May, he was severely beaten by prison guards for pouring hot water on a fellow guard, causing Oweisat serious injuries all over his face and body and apparently health issues that caused him a heart attack on May 9 and his eventual death.

Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails banged on prison cells and started shouting after news of Oweisat‘s death. Reports said the Israel Prison Services was placed on high alert fearing a rebellion by prisoners and had already attacked prisoners in some jails, such as Ofer prison and military camp near Ramallah.

M.K.