RAMALLAH (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Asra Media Office (AMO) has held the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) fully responsible for the life of the detained MP Mohammad Jamal Al-Natsheh (Abu Hammam), who is currently being subjected to an attempted assassination and deliberate killing inside Israeli prisons — a heinous crime that adds to the IOA’s long record of violations against Palestinian detainees.
In a statement released on Friday, the Office said that Sheikh Mohammad Al-Natsheh is one of the most prominent figures of the prisoners’ movement and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He has spent more than 23 years in Israeli prisons, mostly under administrative detention. However, his current detention is described as the harshest and most dangerous, given the accompanying brutal torture and a clear assassination attempt.
The AMO noted that from the moment of his arrest, Al-Natsheh was transferred to Ofer Prison, and then to Hadassah Hospital in critical condition due to intense and merciless interrogation that disregarded all red lines. This led to a brain hemorrhage, kidney failure, and him falling into a complete coma, after which he was transferred to Ramla Prison Hospital, where he currently lies in shock — a testament to the severity of the torture he endured.
According to information obtained by the AMO, Al-Natsheh was in good health before his arrest and did not suffer from any illnesses, clearly indicating that his current condition is the result of brutal torture during interrogation — a blatant and slow assassination attempt.
The Office stressed that what MP Al-Natsheh is being subjected to is a fully-fledged crime that warrants an international investigation and legal accountability for the IOA. It warned that continued silence about this crime will only embolden the IOA to persist in its policy of physical liquidation of prisoners.
The statement called on human rights and international organizations — foremost the International Committee of the Red Cross — to intervene immediately to reveal his medical condition, allow his lawyer to visit him, provide the necessary medical care, and act urgently to save his life before it’s too late.
Earlier, the AMO confirmed that the health condition of detained leader Mohammad Jamal Al-Natsheh, from Al Khalil, is deteriorating severely after he was transferred to the hospital. He is currently suffering from internal bleeding, kidney failure, and has fallen into a coma.
The Office quoted Al-Natsheh’s wife as saying that he is currently held in an Israeli hospital after being subjected to a violent assault during interrogation by Israeli authorities — who are fully responsible for his life and safety.
Al-Natsheh, aged 65, has spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons, including over 9 years under administrative detention without charge or trial. He is a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank and was among the hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders whom the IOA deported to Marj Al-Zohour in southern Lebanon in the 1990s.
He has been repeatedly arrested since the outbreak of the First Intifada in 1987. He was first detained on October 10, 1988, and released in 1990. He was also arrested by the Palestinian Authority between 1996 and 2001, and later placed under house arrest. During the Israeli “Defensive Shield” military operation, he was detained again and sentenced to 8.5 years, spending 4 years in solitary confinement.
Despite being in prison, Al-Natsheh ran as a candidate on the Hamas electoral list in the 2006 legislative elections.
Following his release, the IOA imposed travel bans on him and his wife, preventing them from leaving Palestine. He continued to face waves of arrests — including 4 consecutive years in isolation — and was returned to administrative detention multiple times. Notably, in January 2013, he was detained for 3 years until February 2016, and again from September 2016 to March 2017, then once more in December 2019 for 10 months.
The repeated arrests and dire prison conditions have taken a severe toll on his health. He now suffers from chronic chest problems and kidney issues, which heighten his family’s fears — especially after the recent assault during interrogation and his coma, accompanied by life-threatening complications.
His family has urged human rights and humanitarian organizations to act swiftly to save his life and pressure the OAo provide immediate medical care, warning that what he is undergoing is a deliberate and slow-motion crime against a sick, elderly prisoner, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and international laws and standards.
These practices are part of a broader, unprecedented, and systematic pattern of abuse against Palestinian detainees — showing complete disregard for their health and age. The use of torture tools spares neither the elderly nor the ill, in clear breach of all international legal and humanitarian norms.
