Palestinians jailed in Israel fear coronavirus outbreak
The Palestinian authorities are calling on Israel to release Palestinian inmates amid concerns of a potential coronavirus surge.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Many Palestinians are living in a state of anxiety, fearing that their relatives detained in Israeli prisons could become infected with the coronavirus in the absence of the necessary health care and preventive measures.
On March 20, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) imposed a precautionary quarantine on a group of prisoners in Megiddo Prison, said Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Prisoners Affairs Commission. He told Al-Monitor the prisoners had been in contact with an investigator who had tested positive.
