Ramallah, ALRAY - The bodies of five deceased Palestinian prisoners are still being held by the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA), after returning the body of the prisoner Nour al-Barghouti who died inside his cell last week, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Center for Studies.

The center said, in a press statement on Monday, that the Israeli policy of holding the bodies of the deceased prisoners is a continuation of the policy of punishment and psychological torture against the prisoners and their families.

It indicated that the IOA punishes the prisoners and their families twice: firstly, through detaining them and then through holding their bodies.

The center pointed out that one of the deceased prisoners is named Anis Dawla, from the city of Qalqilya; he was born in 1944 and detained in 1968 after being injured in an attack in Nablus. Anis was given four life sentences in Israeli prisons.

The center indicated that prisoner Dawla died on August 31, 1980, during a hunger strike he went on along with the other prisoners in the Ashkelon prison, after 12 years of imprisonment.

It noted that until yet, the fate and whereabouts of the body of the prisoner Dawla is still unknown.

The second prisoner is identified as 53-year-old Aziz Owaisat, from Jabel Mukaber in occupied Jerusalem; he was given a sentence of thirty years in Israeli prisons, the center said.

It pointed out that Owaisat was killed on May 20, 2018 after being subjected to a barbaric attack by special forces in Eshel prison which led to a collapse in all his body organs, as well as an internal hemorrhage and a laceration in his lungs, which put him in a coma and resulted in moving him to al-Ramla prison clinic.

It indicated the Owaisat suffered from deliberate medical negligence which caused acute heart attack, pointing out that the IOA refused to release him for receiving treatment outside prison.

Owaisat died after spending four consecutive years in prison. His body is currently being hold by the IOA, the center continued.

The third prisoner is named Fares Baroud, 56, from the Beach Camp in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the center went on to say.

Baroud is considered to be the oldest-serving prisoner from Gaza. He was detained on March 23, 1991 and sentenced to life imprisonment, as he spent over 10 years in a row in solitary confinement. His mother died two years before his death, the center indicated.

It pointed out that the health status of the prisoner Baroud has fallen sharply in recent years, after suffering a disease in his liver which resulted in the enucleation of part of his liver.

After the surgery, Baroud was back to prison, but did not receive his appropriate medical care. He slipped into a coma as a result and died after several hours on February 6, 2019, after spending 28 consecutive years in prison, the center said.

The fourth prisoner is named Nassar Taqatqa, 31, from Beit Fajjar town in the city of Bethlehem, the center continued.

It added that Taqatqa died on July 16, 2019, only one month after his detention, due to the severe torture he was exposed to by the Shin Bet in al-Jalama detention center and the Netsan isolation prison.

The fifth prisoner is named as 47-year-old Bassam al-Sayeh, from the city of Nablus, the center said.

It pointed out that al-Sayeh was detained on October 8, 2015, while attending a court hearing against his wife, and directly transferred to al-Ramla prison clinic because he was a patient suffering from cancer.

It indicated that during the period of his detention, al-Sayeh suffered a very deteriorated health condition, adding that in recent years his health condition dropped significantly, with the prison administration ignored even to provide him the minimum of medical care required for his health, which led to his death on September 8, 2019.

The center called upon all humanitarian and law institutions to intervene and pressurize the Israeli occupation to release the bodies of the deceased Palestinian prisoners and returned them to their relatives so they can be buried in accordance with their traditions and religious customs.