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On Tuesday, a Palestinian prisoner arrested by Israeli authorities in July died in an Israeli prison of what the Israeli Prison Authority said was a suicide attempt, an assertion Palestinians deny.
The Palestinians identified the man as 35-year-old Raed Abdel Salam al-Jaabari and called for an independent investigation into his death, calling the circumstances as “mysterious”.
Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prison Authority, said that the prisoner hanged himself in one of the bathrooms of Eshel prison, located in the city on Beersheva. She also said that a medical team tried to revive the prisoner but he had died before his arrival at Soroka hospital in Beersheva.
“A prisoner hanged himself in the toilets”, she said, adding that a team of prison officers and paramedics tried to resuscitate him.
“They managed to revive him but, on the way to hospital, his heart apparently stopped working again and he was pronounced dead on arrival”, she said.
Weizman added that the prisoner was serving time for making threats and assaulting authorities, but did not give out any other details.
However, Palestinians have ruled out suicide as the cause of his death, and put the blame on Israel, with the Ramallah-based Prisoners Club saying that he had no known illnesses, physical or mental. It also called for an unbiased investigation into his death.
“(Jaabari) died today in Eshel prison under mysterious circumstances”, it said in a statement.
Qadura Fares, director of Prisoners’ Club, “cast doubt on the occupation’s claims that the prisoner committed suicide and asked international organizations to investigate his death”, the statement read.
Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Minister of Prisoners, said that Jaabari was arrested in July by Israeli authorities, but was not clear on the charges.
“Israel is responsible for his death. The Israelis say he tried to hang himself but it is not true. It is a lie. This is a war crime”, he said.
