Media denounces Palestinian Authority, blames Israel for cancer

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Israeli security personnel stand together outside the walls of Gilboa prison after six Palestinian militants broke out of it in northern Israel September 6, 2021. REUTERS/Gil Eliyahu

On December 20, 2022, the Israel Prison Service announced that Nasser Abu Hamid (51) died in custody from lung cancer.

Abu Hamid, who was serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison, was one of the most notorious terrorists to emerge from the second Intifada.

One of the founders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization, Abu Hamid was responsible for the deaths of seven Israelis (either by participating directly in their killings or by coordinating them from afar), and also was convicted of multiple counts of attempted murder. Additionally, Abu Hamid was known to have participated in the infamous 2000 lynching of two Israeli reservists in Ramallah.

Abu Hamid has already served time in an Israeli prison for killing five Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. but was later released as part of the Oslo peace process.

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December 23, 2022 09:39

Following news of his death at a Tel Aviv-area hospital, some Palestinian officials blamed Israel for Abu Hamid’s death. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh accused Israel of willful medical negligence, while Hamas claimed Abu Hamid’s death was a serious crime.

In response to Abu Hamid’s death, a general strike was called in major Palestinian centers in the West Bank, and protest rallies were held in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinians blame Israel over death in prison of terrorism convict

“He was a sick man, a really sick man, for a long time – for a few years. And the medical file is open, even for the Palestinian Authority,” says @AEviatar.

With @calev_i24 pic.twitter.com/6gPyW23N2E

i24NEWS French (@i24NEWS_EN) December 21, 2022

Unfortunately, lung cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer for Israelis and Palestinians. In Israel, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death (with the highest mortality rates among men), while lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer for Palestinian men.

Of course, the claim that Abu Hamid’s death from advanced lung cancer was the result of willful medical negligence on Israel’s part is nonsense and only serves to stoke tensions. and increase the likelihood of regional violence.

Let’s add cancer to the long list of things for which the Palestinians blame Israel. https://t.co/agkAtF1KCz

Simon Plosker (@SimonPlosker) December 20, 2022

Most international media quoted Palestinian officials’ claims, as well as the Israeli prison service’s response that there had been no negligence and that Abu Hamid had received close and regular treatment by Israeli medical personnel since then. his diagnosis in 2021.

Several media organizations, however, did not record the Israel Prisons Service’s response, apparently giving more weight and authority to the preposterous allegations of willful neglect by Palestinian officials and political leaders.

For example, the AFP article, Palestinians protest death of prisoner in Israel, only mentions in passing that Abu Hamid was being treated by Israel (without mentioning the prison service’s statement on the quality of care he was receiving), while giving full voice to the absurd allegations made by Palestinian leaders about his death.

Additionally, far-left news source Democracy Now! presented Palestinian claims without even mentioning the treatment of Abu Hamid by Israeli medical personnel or relaying the declaration of the Israeli prison services.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, reasonable death coverage notes that Abu Hamid’s death came as one of the deadliest years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in recent decades draws to a close, apparently linking his death from cancer to the escalation of violence between Israeli security forces and violent Palestinian groups.

While the Palestinian Authority appears determined to use Abu Hamid’s death to incite further violence, his death from natural causes has no connection to the escalation of violence that was already taking place.

Therefore, instead of contributing to Palestinian incitement and stoking an unstable situation, the media should avoid repeating the unfounded allegations of Palestinian officials and political leaders without providing their audience with the Israeli response to those allegations.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog that focuses on anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias, where a version of this article first appeared.

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