The file photo shows Palestinian prisoner Mousa Abu Mahameed at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, in Israel (Photo by Wafa news agency)

Ramallah, September 4 (RHC)-- A 40-year-old Palestinian inmate has died as a result of deliberate medical negligence at an Israeli hospital, a Palestinian prisoners advocacy group says.

In a statement released over the weekend, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said Palestinian prisoner Mousa Abu Mahameed was pronounced dead at Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tel Aviv in the morning, Palestine's official Wafa news agency reported. 

The PPS held Israeli authorities fully responsible for the Palestinian inmate’s death and accused the occupying regime of medical negligence.  "Abu Mahamid was subjected to the crime of deliberate medical negligence," the PPS said.  It further noted that Israeli authorities informed Abu Mahameed’s family and handed over his body for burial later in the day.

Abu Mahameed, a resident of Beit Ta’mar in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, was arrested about two months ago in good health as he attempted to enter al-Quds for work. Israeli forces claimed he did not have a work permit at the time.

According to his family, the Palestinian inmate was suffering from a neurological disorder before his arrest, and that his condition deteriorated in jail.  He was transferred to Assaf Horveh Hospital at the beginning of August after his health declined significantly.

The PPS further said that targeting of Palestinians under the pretext they had entered Israeli-occupied territories without a permit has "escalated" since the beginning of the year, not only through arrests but also through direct killings.

Abu Mahameed’s death came two days after around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners launched an indefinite mass hunger strike in Israeli prisons across the occupied territories in protest against the regime’s custodial repression under the so-called administrative detention policy.

The Supreme National Emergency Committee of the National Captive Movement had announced that the strike will run parallel with other protests against repressive measures being taken by prison wardens and authorities.

It added that the Israeli regime should face pressure from regional and international organizations and governments in response to the demands of the prisoners, who have been booked under flimsy and unsubstantiated charges.

Around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are set to launch an indefinite mass hunger strike in Israeli prisons across the occupied territories on Thursday -- September 8th -- in protest against the regime’s repression.  

There are reportedly more than 7,000 Palestinians held at Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have been apparently incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention.   Human rights organizations say Israel violates all the rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Fourth Geneva Convention. They say administrative detention violates their right to due process since the evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express outrage at their detention. Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions without proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.