According to a claim by Palestinian sources, Nasser Abu Hmeid, a founding member of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, was convicted of killing seven Israelis and serving seven consecutive life terms as another 50-year sentence in an Israeli prison, passed away on Tuesday from cancer.
Israel rejected the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Commission’s plea for the 51-year-old Hmeid’s release on humanitarian grounds after Israel learned that he had lung cancer recently.
Hmeid was Marwan Barghouti’s right-hand man and was nicknamed a “killing machine” by Israel.
Hmeid’s health swiftly declined as cancer crept throughout his body. The Commission and other Palestinian organizations asserted that Abu Hmeid’s disease should have been identified sooner and that the Israel Prison Service killed him on purpose due to their carelessness.
According to the Israel Prison Service (IPS), the prisoner “got regular and close treatment from IPS medical staff and external doctors,” rejecting the accusation.
“The prisoner, born in 1971, unmarried, from Judea and Samaria, was sentenced to life imprisonment due to violent acts against civilians, attempted murder, and other offenses,” according to an IPS statement.
He entered prison in April 2002.
He has served four prison terms. His family has been informed, and the situation will be considered in every case like this.
Several Israelis were killed between 2000 and 2002, including Binyamin and Talya Kahane, Eliyahu Cohen, Gadi Rejuan, Yosef Haby, Eli Dahan, and police officer Selim Barkat.
Hmeid was convicted guilty of their deaths.
In addition, Hmeid was currently serving a second term for 12 further attempted murder charges.
Hmeid had previously served time in Israeli prisons for the 1990 murder of five Palestinian collaborators, but he was freed in 1993 due to the Oslo Accords.
After six family members participated in the murder of Jews, Abu Hmeid’s family was given special treatment by the Palestinian Authority.
Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the PA, even requested that the killers’ mother bring the Palestinian statehood demand to the UN.
Following Abu Hmeid’s passing, several Palestinian organizations, including the General Union of Palestinian Teachers and the Palestinian Bar Association, demanded a general strike across Judea and Samaria, with the call for work to stop at 11 a.m. this Tuesday.
Security jail inmates have declared a three-day time of mourning, and some may even embark on a hunger strike.
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