Martyrdom of Detainee Assef Refae, who suffers from cancer, at Assaf Harofeh Hospital

 

Detainee Refae was exposed to a medical crime, where the occupation authorities deprived him of treatment and procrastinated seven months in his medical examinations

 

 

 

 The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club affirmed the martyrdom of the sick detainee Asef Refae, 22, from Kufr Ein/ Ramallah, after transferring him from the clinic of Al-Ramla prison to Assaf Hatofeh Hospital. He was arrested in 24/9/2022, in spite of his diagnosis of cancer, and he was injured by the Israeli soldiers several times, where the Israeli authorities threatened to assassinate him before detention. The Commission and the Prisoner’s Club pointed out that Refae was exposed to a medical crime by the occupation authorities, as they deprived him of getting a permit to enter Jerusalem for treatment, and pursued the crime by arresting him, procrastinating in conducting medical examinations and depriving him from taking medication for seven months. He was held at Ofer prison and then transferred to the clinic of Al-Ramla prison. It has been confirmed that the procrastination in his treatment led to the spread of cancer in different parts of his body, and this is based on medical reports conducted later. Refae is one of hundred sick detainees in Israeli prisons, who face medical crimes which have increased after October 7. The Commission and the Prisoner’s Club emphasized that the last family visit to Refae was on last September, before the war, and the last phone call with his family was three days before his martyrdom. The Commission and the Prisoner’s Club said Israel must hold full responsibility for his martyrdom and the fate of all sick detainees, besides to tens of injured detainees who got attacked and tortured after October 7. With the martyrdom of Refae, the number of martyrs of the Captive Movement raises to 11 after October 7: ( Omar Daraghmeh from Tubas, Arafat Hamdan from Ramallah, Majid Zaqqul from Gaza, Abdulrahman Maree from Salfit, Thaer Abu Assab from Qalqilia, Abdulrahman Bahsh from Nablus, Muhammad Sabbar from Hebron, Khalid Shawish from Tubas, Ezz Aldeen Banna from Gaza, Asef Refae from Ramallah and unknown detainee). The number of martyrs from the Captive Movement stands at (248) , in addition to several liberated detainees who martyred after release due to disease they get from prisons.