According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, a 68-year-old Palestinian lady has passed away in an Israeli prison six months after being detained by Israeli authorities close to a military checkpoint in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
Saadia Farajallah has been detained at the Israeli Damon jail since her arrest in December 2021. She reportedly had various chronic ailments, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Farajallah was detained close to the Ibrahimi Mosque after allegedly attempting a stabbing attack. Farajallah’s death was condemned by Palestinian factions and human rights organisations, who said that Israel’s practise of medical negligence toward Palestinian political detainees was to blame.
According to Wafa, the mother-of-eight from the southern West Bank town of Idna, Farajallah, has been subject to an autopsy request from the Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls the occupied West Bank.
The circumstances surrounding her death are still unknown, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, a rights organisation that fights for Palestinians detained by Israel. She reportedly lost consciousness after completing her morning rituals, according to the detainees, and was rushed to the hospital where she passed away, as reported by the Prisoners’ Club.
According to the Prisoners’ Club, Farajallah was in a wheelchair when the prosecution requested a five-year prison term and a fine of 15,000 sheqalim ($4,200) on June 28.
The Israeli occupation authorities were solely to blame for Farajallah’s death, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayya, who condemned it.
International human rights organisations were urged by Shtayya to launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death and to pressure the occupation authorities to free all the female and ill detainees.
A global investigation was also demanded by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
Farajallah is the 230rd Palestinian to pass away since 1967 while being held captive or detained by Israel.
According to the Palestinian prisoner rights organisation Addameer, 4,700 Palestinians—including 32 women and 170 children—are currently detained in Israeli prisons.