Hawzah News Agency (Occupied Palestine) - The recent death of Palestinian prisoner Sa’di al-Gharabli in Israel has put the issue of long-serving Palestinian prisoners under the spotlight.

Al-Gharabli, 75, died at Assaf Harofeh medical center last week after his health deteriorated, according to the Handala Center for Detainees and Ex-detainees.

Al-Gharabli, from the Gaza Strip, was arrested by Israeli forces in 1994 and sentenced to a lifetime in prison.

“The suffering of Palestinian detainees is exacerbated by the deliberate medical negligence by Israeli prison authorities,” Abdel-Naser Ferwana of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said.

“Prison authorities deny medicines and necessary medical care to the detainees,” he said.

Ferwana said Palestinian prisoners in Israel are subject to torture and physical and psychological pressures by the prison authorities. “They are deprived of family visits, which adds to their plight,” he said.

Palestinian authorities estimate that over 5,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons located throughout Israel.

According to the commission, 51 Palestinian prisoners have been held in Israel for over 20 years.

Around 224 Palestinian detainees are estimated to have died in Israeli prisons since 1967, five of them passed away this year.

Of these numbers, the commission estimates that 73 prisoners had died due to torture and 69 to medical negligence.