JERUSALEM (JTA) — A terminally ill Palestinian was granted an early release from an Israeli prison.
Kamal Mohammed al-Taj, a security prisoner who had served two-thirds of a 14-year sentence, was granted the early release on Wednesday by Israeli President Shimon Peres, the President’s Office said. Peres was acting on the recommendation of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni,
Taj is set to be transferred from the Israel Prison Service’s medical center to the government hospital in Ramallah in the West Bank.
His release follows the death earlier this month of Maysara Abuhamdieh, 64, a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail who died of esophageal cancer. Palestinian officials have accused Israel of withholding appropriate medical treatment.
