BAQA AL-GARBIYYE (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The brother of martyred prisoner Walid Daqqa, Asaad Daqqa, stated that the Israeli occupation authorities are punishing the family by holding Walid’s body.
He went on to say that Walid’s body would only be released if Itamar Ben Gvir, the radical Israeli Minister of National Security, made the decision.
In an attempt to punish the family, Daqqa clarified in a press conference on Monday that Walid’s body is being withheld even after his martyrdom. He noted that Ibn Gvir must now decide on the matter.
He declared that there was no legal basis for keeping Walid’s body in the Forensic Medicine Institute in “Abu Kabir”.
“The problem did not end with the body being withheld. Instead, the occupation required the family to forbid gatherings, refuse to accept mourners, and refrain from setting up a funeral home for Walid.”
He emphasized that the family only found out about Walid’s martyrdom through the media and the hospital, not through an official notification from the occupation authorities.
Asaad urged official leaders, human rights organizations, and humanitarian groups worldwide to work toward Walid’s body’s release. He continued, saying, “We hoped that the deal would be to release Walid alive, and now we hope that there will be no deal without the release of his body.”
Imprisoned Palestinian novelist and activist Walid Daqqa, who was suffering from cancer, has died in Israel’s Shamir Medical Center on Sunday.
Daqqa was from Baqa al-Gharbiyye, a predominantly Palestinian city within the Green Line, and had served for 38 years in Israeli prisons. He died as a result of the “slow killing” policy carried out against ill prisoners by the Israeli prison administration.
