Jerusalem: The Arab League's General Secretariat has urged the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to incorporate the issue of deliberate medical negligence against Palestinian detainees into its current investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian Territory.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the Arab League issued a statement through its Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Sector condemning the medical neglect that resulted in the death of Abdul Rahman Sufian Muhammad al-Sabateen, a 21-year-old from Husan town, west of Bethlehem. Al-Sabateen passed away in an Israeli hospital after his health deteriorated due to substandard detention conditions.
The Arab League emphasized that Al-Sabateen's death marks the sixth death of a Palestinian detainee in Israeli prisons this year, underscoring it as a crime that adds to the pattern of systematic Israeli violations against Palestinian prisoners. These acts are seen as clear breaches of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.
The statement also criticized the Israeli prison authorities' practice of deliberate medical negligence against thousands of Palestinian detainees, including vulnerable groups such as children, women, and the sick. It described these actions as a form of slow killing and internationally prohibited torture.
The Arab League called on the international community, human rights organizations, and particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene urgently. They urged pressure on Israel to release Al-Sabateen's body to his family and reaffirmed their support for the Palestinian people's pursuit of freedom and independence.
Statements from the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs noted that Al-Sabateen had a court session on November 25, 2025. During this session, according to his family, he did not exhibit any visible signs of serious health issues, despite having suffered a severe abdominal injury a year prior to his detention, which had stabilized over time.
These institutions further stated that Al-Sabateen's death is part of a pattern of slow killings executed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. They also highlighted the systematic field executions that are part of the ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.
The Commission and PPS pointed out that Al-Sabateen's death occurs amid Israel's push to approve a law for executing prisoners. This is set against the backdrop of alarming findings by human rights organizations, including Israeli groups, regarding the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli prisons and detention camps since the onset of the ongoing genocidal campaign.
Admissions from Israeli authorities have shown a sharp rise in detainee deaths since the appointment of far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Ministry of National Security, who has been accused of systematically targeting and killing prisoners while stripping them of basic rights, even before the war.
Currently, the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has exceeded 9,300, with hundreds more detained in Israeli military camps. Among the detainees are over 50 women and approximately 350 children.
