Walid Dhaka, an imprisoned Palestinian novelist and activist who had been suffering from cancer, has died at Shamir Medical Center in Israel, according to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Former Detainees Affairs.
Dacca, who is from the Palestinian-majority Israeli city of Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, had served 38 years in an Israeli prison, the commission added, adding that “a number of complaints were subsequently carried out on sick prisoners.” According to the Israel Prison Administration, which said he died as a result of a “slow killing” policy.
Protesters gathered in Ramallah to commemorate one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners of war, who was due to be released next year.
The Palestinian state news agency Wafa described Dhaka as a “freedom fighter” and said Hamas had “renewed the contract until the prisoners gain freedom” following news of Dhaka's death.
In a statement, Hamas pointed out how Dhaka's death “occurred in an occupied prison.”
Israel's far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of Israel's prisons, said Israel was “not crying” over Daka's death, calling him a “terrorist”.
In a social media post, he said Dhaka's life had ended naturally and was not part of the “death penalty for terrorists” that was “supposed”.
לא בוכה הלילה על מותו של אסיר העולם – המחבל ווליד דקה ימ”ש. ד דקה סיים אי और देखें
— Yadoku (@itamarbengvir) April 7, 2024
bad treatment of prisoners
Dacca is one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners held by Israel for many years. He was arrested by Israel in 1986 on suspicion of killing an Israeli soldier and has been in prison ever since. During his time in prison, he wrote several books, including children's stories.
They even got married while in prison in 1999. He and his wife, Sana Salameh, gave birth to a daughter, Milad, in 2020 after semen was smuggled out of prison.
“Israeli officials in the prison told him they would not allow him to have a child, but he won by giving birth to Milad,” his wife told Al Jazeera.
A year later, Dhaka was diagnosed with myelofibrosis. Myelofibrosis is a rare form of bone marrow cancer that inhibits the body's normal production of blood cells. Rights groups began pressuring Israel to release him on medical grounds.
Adamer, a rights group that supports Palestinian prisoners of war, last year called for his “immediate release”, saying Dakka “needs urgent medical treatment” and accusing Israeli authorities of denying him the treatment prescribed to him.
However, Israel refused to release him early and set his release date for 2025.
Prisoners' organizations say Israeli prison authorities have delayed testing and emergency surgeries for Palestinian prisoners for years.
In a joint report to the United Nations, human rights organizations said that professional doctors, with the exception of dentists, are not regularly seen and that “over-the-counter painkillers are given as a treatment for almost all health problems. “
At least 10 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons since the Israeli-Hamas war began on October 7, according to Wafa. But Haaretz's investigation shows that the number was actually at least 27.
Before that, in 2020, four Palestinian prisoners of war died while in Israeli custody. And in November 2021, Palestinian prisoner Sami Umor, 39, died after suffering from a serious heart condition and urgently needed surgery was postponed for several months.
Regarding the delays in sentencing in the cases of Dhaka and other sick prisoners, Qadura Fares, director of the Palestine Prisoners of War Association, a major Palestinian prisoners' rights NGO, said it was a policy of “slow and systematic killing”.
After news of Mr. Dhaka's death was announced by Israel on Sunday, social media was flooded with tributes commemorating him and his work.
“He was one of the most prominent prison intellectuals, and several works to his name, notably “The Dissolution of Consciousness'', “Parallel Time'', and the novel “The Secret of the Oil Story'', were published in local and Arab It won an award,” Lema said. said a diplomat from the European Union Mission to Palestine in a post on X.
“Dacca left a legacy as a hero of Palestine,” she said.
🇵🇸 prisoner Walid Dhaka, who was battling cancer, passed away in an Israeli hospital. He remained in detention until his death despite international and Palestinian calls for his release due to severe medical neglect in prison.Dhaka 🇵🇸 He left behind a heroic legacy and his wife and daughter also survived pic.twitter.com/liBBnFBVtM
— Lemapal (@Lemapal) April 7, 2024