An Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the Occupied West Bank, on Feb. 2, 2023. (Credit: Dedi Hayun/Reuters)
The Palestinian Authority Friday accused Israel of "medical negligence" after a Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody, allegations denounced as "baseless" by Israeli officials.
The Palestinian foreign ministry urged both the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the death of 48-year-old Ahmed Badr Abdullah Abu Ali from Yatta, south of Hebron.
Abu Ali died "as a result of a policy of deliberate medical negligence by the (Israeli) occupation authorities against our sick prisoners," Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila said in a statement.
He alleged such treatment "deprives" Palestinian prisoners "of the right to essential humane treatment provided for by all international norms and conventions."
A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry told AFP: "These are baseless accusations which are part of a false propaganda campaign from the Palestinian Authority against Israel."
Israel's prison service confirmed on Friday that an unnamed detainee was found on Thursday "without a pulse, attempts to revive him failed and he was declared dead."
It added he was a member of the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.
Israeli media said Abu Ali was arrested for recruiting a Palestinian who carried out a stabbing attack that injured an Israeli civilian in the city of Beersheba in 2012.
The Palestinian prisoners club advocacy group said Abu Ali had "suffered a serious deterioration in his health condition."
It added he had been jailed in 2012 and had two years remaining of his sentence.
A spokesman for the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, denounced Abu Ali's death as "a flagrant violation of all international humanitarian rules."
The Palestinian foreign ministry urged both the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the death of 48-year-old Ahmed Badr...