The health of Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa, who has been in Israeli prisons for 38 years, has been gradually deteriorating, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
Amani Sarahna, a PPS spokeswoman, told WAFA that the health condition of prisoner Daqqa, who is diagnosed with spinal cord cancer, is very serious, and his rate of improvement is very slow.
Daqqa is in an unstable condition resulting from severe pneumonia, and was recently hospitalized due to his suffering from dizziness and a decrease in hemoglobin, she added.
Daqqa is a Palestinian writer and activist who has been imprisoned by Israel since 1986 for his resistance of the Israeli occupation.
He was diagnosed last year with Myelofibrosis – a rare form of bone marrow cancer that disrupts the body’s normal production of blood cells.
Addameer, a rights group that supports Palestinian prisoners, said last week the 61-year-old was in ‘dire need of urgent medical attention’.
The group accused Israeli authorities of denying Daqqa the treatment he was prescribed and called for his ‘immediate release’.
If left untreated, Myelofibrosis causes extensive scarring in the bone marrow, leading to severe anaemia that can cause weakness and fatigue.
In February, Daqqa suffered a stroke that was caused by a blood clot, according to the rights group.
Daqqa is one of the most prominent and longtime Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. While in prison, he has written several books, including a children’s one.
In 1999, Daqqa got married while behind bars. Along with his wife, Sana Salameh, he welcomed a daughter – Milad – in 2020, conceived after his sperm was smuggled out of prison.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency