West Bank, ALRAY - Amnesty International has urged the Israeli occupation to immediately release cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee Walid Daqqa, who is in critical condition.

In a statement Wednesday, the international rights group demanded that the Israeli occupation authorities allow Daqqa, 62, to access “specialist medical care and spend his remaining time with his family.”

Daqqa, who suffers from chronic lung disease and bone marrow cancer, is held in the notorious Ramla prison clinic, which is “ill-equipped to deal with his condition.”

Diagnosed with cancer last year, Daqqa was denied access to a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant by the Israeli occupation prison authorities, which refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital.

“Walid Daqqah’s case illustrates the Israeli justice system’s cruelty towards Palestinians, including those who are seriously ill or dying,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Walid’s health conditions have already been exacerbated by medical neglect on the part of the Israeli Prison Service – when he had a stroke earlier this year, the IPS refused to transfer him to a proper hospital for 11 days, a delay which led to life-threatening complications.”

Sentenced to 37 years in prison, Daqqa was set to be released in March 2023.

In 2018, however, he was sentenced to a further two years for allegedly attempting to smuggle phones to other detainees.

On June 26, an Israeli special parole board turned down Daqqa’s request for early release despite his critical condition.

About two weeks later, an Israeli court rejected his petition against the parole board’s decision.

In a 2022 report on the Israeli apartheid system, Amnesty International revealed how the Israeli military justice system systematically discriminates against Palestinians and denies them the right to a fair trial and due process.