Maysara Abu Hamdiya, 64, a retired general in the Palestinian Authority
security services, died in a hospital in southern Israel two months
after receiving a diagnosis of throat cancer. Mr. Hamdiya was detained
by Israel in 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian uprising and
was serving a life term for attempted murder after sending a suicide
bomber to a cafe in Jerusalem, according to Israeli officials. The bomb
failed to detonate.
Mr. Hamdiya’s death came amid efforts by the Western-backed Palestinian
leadership to place the prisoner issue high on the diplomatic agenda,
with the Obama administration calling for a renewal of
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Emotions over the prisoner issue have
been running high among the Palestinian public in recent months, leading
to protests in support of prisoners on hunger strikes and over the death of a prisoner in February under disputed circumstances.
The Palestinian Authority said Mr. Hamdiya had been suffering severe
throat pain since August. In the days and weeks leading up to his death,
Palestinian representatives blamed Israel for procrastinating in his
diagnosis and treatment as they pressed for his early release.
Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prison Service, said Mr.
Hamdiya had been under medical supervision and a committee would examine
the circumstances of his death, as in all cases of prisoners dying in
custody. Ms. Weizman added that the prison service had applied to a
parole board for an early release for Mr. Hamdiya about a week ago, once
it was clear that his illness was terminal, but that he died before the
process could be completed.
The office of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority,
said in a statement that it held the Israeli government “fully
responsible” for Mr. Hamdiya’s death, which it said stemmed from a
policy of “deliberate medical negligence.”
Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the authority, also accused the
Israeli prison authorities of a “policy of medical negligence,” saying
in a statement that the delay in treating Mr. Hamdiya “was a primary
reason for his martyrdom.” He called for international monitoring of the
conditions inside Israel’s prisons.
Prisoners in Israeli custody hold an honored place in Palestinian
society, with many Palestinians regarding even compatriots convicted of
deadly terrorist acts as political prisoners and fighters for the
Palestinian cause.
With news of Mr. Hamdiya’s death, Palestinian prisoners in several
Israeli jails erupted in anger, banging on cell doors and throwing
objects, Ms. Weizman said. Tear gas was used to quell the unrest in one
of the prisons, though calm was restored by the afternoon.
Rioting also broke out in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Mr.
Hamdiya’s hometown, where many stores closed in protest on Tuesday and a
public hall was opened to receive mourners.
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