Israel passes bill in 1st reading to ban funding of medical treatment for Palestinian detainees

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Knesset (Israel's parliament) on Thursday passed a bill in the first reading to stop the state funding of medical treatment for Palestinian detainees.

According to public broadcaster KAN, the bill, when enacted into law, will prohibit the state funding of unnecessary medical treatment, including cosmetic treatment, for Palestinian prisoners.

The bill still needs two more rounds of voting before becoming law.

Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society NGO, decried the bill as a violation of the rights of Palestinian detainees.

"Although international laws and norms guarantee the right to medical treatment and health care, the [Israeli] occupation authorities continue to violate what the international community has approved," Fares said in a statement.

He added that there are nearly 200 Palestinian detainees who suffer from chronic diseases and 24 who are diagnosed with cancer.

Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, said the bill “is part of the occupation’s policy of deliberate medical negligence, and reflects the Israeli government’s fascist plans against the Palestinian people."

Palestinian figures show that there are 4,780 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, including 160 children and 29 women.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar