Palestinian prisoner suffering cancer starts his 18th year in captivity

GAZA,  Palestinian prisoner Emad Zurub, who suffers cancer, has started his 18th year in Israeli detention and is in bad need of proper medical treatment outside prison, the higher national committee supporting prisoners said on Wednesday.

Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the spokesman for the committee, said in a press release that Zurub, who is from the Gaza Strip, was detained since 11/4/1993 and is serving a life sentence and did not suffer any disease on his detention 17 years ago.

He added that Zurub’s health started to deteriorate two years after his detention and underwent surgeries but his condition worsened and new examinations proved that cancerous glands were spreading in his body.

Ashqar underlined that another cancer prisoner Raed Darabeh, also from Gaza Strip, was also serving a life sentence and his condition is very serious.

Darabeh, who was detained since 18/4/2002, contracted cancer in his back four years ago but due to medical neglect on the part of the Israeli authorities his condition rapidly deteriorated, the spokesman said, adding that he underwent six surgeries that failed to heal him.

Ashqar said that Darabeh was in need of a dangerous and sensitive operation in his spinal cord, which the Israeli prisons authority is delaying further threatening his life.

He appealed to the international organizations to intervene and demand the release of both prisoners so they could receive proper treatment the soonest.