23-year-old Palestinian Prisoner Dies in Israeli Prison in Mysterious Circumstances

A Palestinian inmate of the Ketziot prison in the Negev region of southern Israel died under suspicious circumstances in the early hours of April 22, Wednesday, as per reports by multiple Palestinian news outlets. The prisoner, identified as Nour Jaber Al-Barghouthi, reportedly fell down abruptly and lost consciousness in the bathroom in Section 25 of the prison. 23-year-old Barghouthi hailed from Abdoubd village in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, west of Ramallah. He was serving the fourth year of an eight-year prison sentence for resistance activities against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), the other prison inmates tried to break open the locked bathroom door after hearing Barghouthi’s fall. Unable to do so, they sought assistance from the Israeli prison guards. However, the guards allegedly delayed help for over 30 minutes and only responded after vehement protests by the prisoners. 

The Israeli guards then tried to resuscitate an unconscious Barghouthi through CPR but failed. Only then was an ambulance called to transport the prisoner to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Barghouthi allegedly died on the way to the hospital. 

The PPS has blamed avoidable delay in medical treatment and the gross negligence displayed by the Israeli prison authorities for Barghouthi’s untimely death. PPS spokesperson Abduallah Zghari told reporters that the prisoner’s family was devastated by the news of his death, stating, “He was a young, healthy man, with no preexisting health conditions. So how does something like this happen, just out of the blue?” 

The PPS also alleged the possibility of foul play on the part of the Israeli prison administration leading to the inmate’s sudden death. It has demanded an autopsy to determine the cause of death as well as an investigation into the 30-minute delay in providing him assistance.

With Barghouthi’s death, the reported number of Palestinian prisoners to have died in Israeli prisons since 1967 reaches 273. At least three Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli custody last year. Their bodies are still held by the Israeli state. The bodies of two other inmates who died in Israeli prisons in 1980 and 2018 were also never returned to the families for burial. This is because of a policy followed by Israel which stipulates that prisoners, even if deceased, must serve out their full sentences. According to Zghari, since Barghouthi had four years remaining of his eight-year sentence, his family will not receive his body for another four years. “This is the pain that Palestinian people, and the families of prisoners, must endure simply for trying to free themselves and their people from the occupation,” he added.