• A Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody.
• There were appeals to release him.
• Nasser Abu Hmaid, 50, died Tuesday at an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv.

A Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody amid appeals to release him and charges of Israeli medical neglect after his late cancer diagnosis.

Nasser Abu Hmaid, 50, died Tuesday at an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv, according to Palestinian officials.

His health deteriorated and he fell into a coma at the Ramla jail clinic on Monday afternoon.

In Ramallah and el-Bireh, stores, schools, and businesses closed Tuesday to mourn Abu Hmaid’s death.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed the Israeli occupation for Abu Hmaid’s death.

According to Palestinian prisoner rights groups, Abu Hmaid was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in August 2021 after Israeli officials delayed medical exams and treatment.

His family, prisoner groups, and politicians called on Israel to free him, saying he was facing a “slow death” from medical mistreatment. The family wanted their son to die with them.

After months of chemotherapy, Assaf Harofeh hospital stated it couldn’t save his life in September.

Abu Hmaid is “in his last days,” the hospital reported. He was sent back to Ramla prison clinic and incarcerated.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said Israeli authorities “didn’t consider our demands for the prisoner’s release due to his poor condition.”

Monday evening, the Palestinian Authority and the International Committee of the Red Cross brought his mother and brother to the hospital, but he was in a coma.

Abu Hmaid led Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. He was from the al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, Israeli-occupied West Bank.

He has been jailed since 2002 for his role in the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.

Palestinian officials say they are following up on his file at the highest levels so a funeral procession can be arranged.

Palestinian political groups will protest Abu Hmaid’s death and Israeli medical malpractice on Tuesday.

Palestinian officials and rights groups have documented and criticized Israel’s “deliberate medical malpractice”.

According to prisoner groups, Israeli prison authorities delay inspections and critical procedures for Palestinian inmates for years, and only do so after pressure from the detainees and their relatives, including hunger strikes.

Except for dentists, specialized specialists aren’t usually available, and “over-the-counter medications are supplied for nearly all health conditions,” rights groups told the UN.

Four Palestinians died in Israeli detention in 2020.

Sami Umour, 39, died in November 2021 after months of waiting for cardiac surgery.

More than 70 Palestinian detainees have died from medical neglect in Israeli prisons since 1967, according to the PPS.

Most Palestinians consider Israeli inmates as political prisoners detained because of Israeli occupation or resistance.

Israel holds 4,760 Palestinians. This comprises 500 with various conditions and 20 with cancer.

820 inmates are imprisoned without indictment or trial under Israel’s controversial “administrative detention.” regime.

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