The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned on Sunday of the continued spread of scabies (skin infestation known as “scabiosis”) inside the Zionist enemy's "Ofer" Prison, citing the deliberate medical negligence by prison authorities.
In an official statement issued following a visit by its lawyer to the facility, the commission reported that several Palestinian detainees have been suffering from scabies for months without receiving the necessary medical treatment.
According to the statement, one such case is detainee Asid Ma’rouf, from the town of Saffa near Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, who has been suffering from the disease for approximately five months. The commission stated that his hands and parts of his body are covered with lesions, accompanied by severe itching, particularly at night, yet he has not received any form of treatment.
The statement also highlighted the case of detainee Atta al-Barghouthi, an 18 year old from Beit Rima near Ramallah, who is likewise suffering from scabies without being provided appropriate medical care.
Quoting the commission’s lawyer, al-Barghouthi said that “the situation inside Ofer Prison is deteriorating,” adding that prison authorities deliberately confiscate mattresses from detainees during sleeping hours, forcing them to sleep on their clothes.
Another detainee, Fares Marra from Beit Duqqu, north of al-Quds, who has been imprisoned since 2022, is also suffering from scabies and severe itching without receiving necessary treatment.
Additionally, detainee Mohammad Sharaka, an 18 year old from the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, who is serving a 10-month sentence, is suffering from boils across his body—described as painful, red, embedded lesions—without access to medical care.
The commission’s lawyer further warned that detainees lack adequate clothing, noting that each prisoner possesses only the clothes they are wearing and is not provided with replacements unless the garments are torn—and even then, only after a prolonged period.
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Zionist enemy authorities have intensified violations and repressive measures against Palestinian prisoners. These include medical neglect, physical and psychological torture, strip searches, starvation, and sexual abuse.
More than 9,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli enemy prisons, including 86 female detainees and 3,376 administrative detainees. The same sources report that over 23,000 arrests have been carried out since October 2023.
