Palestinian prisoner gets only 30 minutes to visit teenage son battling cancer

Palestinian prisoner gets only 30 minutes to visit teenage son battling cancer
Rajab Tahhan was given a very limited time to spend with his 19-year-old son Majd inside an Israeli hospital, where he is getting treatment for leukaemia.
1 min read
31 October, 2017
Nineteen-year-old Majd is receiving treatment for leukaemia inside an Israeli hospital [Facebook]
A Palestinian prisoner serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail was allowed to see his cancer-stricken teenage son for only 30 minutes on Monday.

Rajab Tahhan was given a very limited time to spend with his 19-year-old son Majd inside an Israeli hospital, where he is getting treatment for leukaemia.

Tahhan, who was cuffed from his hands and feet, was escorted by the Israeli Prison Services to the Hadassah Medical Center in West Jerusalem, Wafa news agency reported.

"The father and son cried during the entire visit, which, according to Tahhan family members, was mixed with feelings of joy and sadness at the same time," Wafa reported.

The ward was shut down for the duration of the visit.

Tahhan's short trip to his critically-ill son came following a long legal battle after which the Israeli District Court in Beersheba finally accepted to permit the short visit.

Tahhan was one of the Palestinian prisoners released as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel in 2011.

He was re-arrested by Israeli forces in 2014 and had his previous life term sentence reinstated.