Palestinian terrorist Nasser Abu Hamid, a founder of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who murdered seven Israelis and participated in the infamous Ramallah lynch in 2000, died from cancer on Tuesday morning as an Israeli prisoner while undergoing treatment under guard in a hospital.
The Israel Prisons Service confirmed that Abu Hamid died while hospitalized at Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center. He was imprisoned multiple times on terrorism charges and was sentenced to a life sentence for the deadly terrorist attacks he conducted and organized.
Abu Hamid took part in the infamous Ramallah lynch in 2000 and murdered three Israelis in shooting attacks that same year. He also planned and directed three terrorist attacks in 2002 and was imprisoned on a life sentence later that year.
Palestinians accuse Israel of 'deliberate medical negligence'
The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs accused Israel of "deliberate medical negligence," an accusation made after any Palestinian dies due to health complications in imprisonment or shortly after release.
A number of bereaved families appealed to Defense Minister Benny Gantz through the right-wing Honenu legal group that he not release Abu Hamid’s body for burial, Channel 12 reported on Tuesday evening.
The Fatah movement announced a comprehensive strike in the Ramallah governorate on Tuesday after Abu Hamid’s death. Days of mourning and strikes were announced in additional Palestinian cities, towns and universities on Tuesday. Palestinian prisoners announced that they would protest in light of the death as well.
Palestinian factions in Jerusalem called for a march at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday evening in response to Abu Hamid’s death.
A day of mourning was announced in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with a protest march planned for after the Maghreb prayer on Tuesday afternoon in Gaza City.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned that Abu Hamid’s death would “not go unpunished.”