The life of Palestinian political activist Mazid Saqf al-Hait is at risk as he remains detained in Palestinian Authority prisons. Lawyers for Justice reports that he has been denied adequate medical care, subjected to solitary confinement and obstructed from accessing the courts and a specialized medical committee, despite his serious health condition. His case is not an isolated incident, but comes after years of arrests, persecution and prosecution over his political positions and criticism of Palestinian Authority policies. Samidoun demands his freedom and an immediate end to political detention and repression in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian organization Lawyers for Justice has issued an urgent appeal to protect the life and safety of Palestinian political activist Mazid Saqf al-Hait, currently detained at the Barghasha Reform and Rehabilitation Center in Jenin, warning of his serious health condition and ongoing violations of his rights to health care, a fair trial and human dignity.
According to information provided by his lawyers and family, Mazid is suffering from a serious medical condition. He was arrested inside the Nablus Specialized Hospital after suffering a stroke and was subsequently transferred to the Barghasha detention center in Jenin. This transfer has since been used to obstruct his attendance at court hearings, with Israeli occupation checkpoints and closures and the alleged inability to transport him between Jenin and Nablus cited as reasons for preventing his appearance, directly undermining his right to a defense and a fair trial.
Mazid has also reported being placed in solitary confinement on several occasions without legal justification and being denied adequate health care, treatment and medication required by his medical condition. His family requested that he be examined by a specialized medical committee to determine whether his health permits his continued detention or whether his detention should be suspended, or he should be released, in order to receive the necessary treatment. According to his family, the prison administration has also obstructed this procedure, again citing the inability to transport him to the medical committee in Nablus because of Israeli occupation checkpoints.
A Palestinian detainee in a serious medical condition is therefore being denied regular access both to the courts and to the medical specialists who must assess his health, while the Palestinian Authority continues to hold him despite repeated warnings about the risks to his health and life.
But what Mazid Saqf al-Hait is experiencing today cannot be treated as an isolated case or a simple administrative matter. For years, he has faced repeated arrests, persecution and judicial proceedings related to his political positions and criticism of the Palestinian Authority.
In January 2023, Mazid was arrested by the Palestinian Preventive Security forces. During a court appearance, he reported that he had been beaten and subjected to ill-treatment while in detention. In May 2024, he was arrested again after security forces raided his home. Lawyers for Justice reported that he was beaten with rifle butts in front of his wife and children.
The persecution continued that same year. In October 2024, Mazid was arrested once again, in what Lawyers for Justice described at the time as his third arrest that year, amid cases related to his political positions and criticism. He was prosecuted on charges that included allegedly “insulting high authorities,” as well as being judicially pursued over political criticism expressed through electronic media.
In December 2025, Mazid was again detained by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, only days after he filed an appeal before the Palestinian Constitutional Court challenging the presidential decree establishing a committee to draft a provisional constitution. Lawyers for Justice warned at the time about the serious implications of pursuing a political activist after he had used a legal mechanism to challenge a presidential decision, noting indications that his detention was politically motivated.
Judicial persecution continued in 2026. In May, the Nablus Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to one year in prison in a case related to his social media posts, political opinions and criticism of Palestinian Authority officials. Palestinian human rights organizations condemned the sentence and demanded an end to prosecutions targeting freedom of opinion and expression.
Even during his current detention, Mazid was brought before a court on the basis of a report issued by police at the Barghasha detention center, alleging that he had told another detainee that “President Mahmoud Abbas is illegitimate and the president is subject to the law.” He was charged with “insulting high authorities.” The Jenin Magistrate’s Court subsequently acquitted him of the charge, confirming that there was no legal basis for prosecuting him in this case.
“The persecution of Mazid Saqf al-Hait did not begin today. Years of arrests, prosecutions, allegations of beatings and ill-treatment, and persecution over his political positions reveal a pattern of political repression that must end.”
The Palestinian Authority’s political repression must end
Samidoun views the case of Mazid Saqf al-Hait as part of a much broader pattern of political detention, summonses, persecution and repression carried out by Palestinian Authority security forces against activists, strugglers, resistance fighters, students, journalists and dissident voices throughout the occupied West Bank.
Political detention cannot be normalized, nor can expressing political positions, supporting the Palestinian resistance or criticizing the Palestinian Authority leadership be transformed into grounds for persecution, imprisonment and prosecution.
This policy is even more dangerous in the current moment. While the genocide in Gaza continues and the Zionist occupation escalates its colonial assault throughout the occupied West Bank through military raids, assassinations, mass arrests, home demolitions, settlement expansion, settler attacks and forced displacement, Palestinian Authority security forces continue to devote their resources to pursuing Palestinians for their political positions, their criticism of the PA leadership and, in numerous cases, their support for the resistance.
Political detention is not simply a collection of individual “mistakes” or isolated abuses. It is part of a political and security apparatus developed under the framework of the Oslo accords and maintained through security coordination with the occupation and the persecution of resistance forces and political activists. At a time when the occupation army is invading Palestinian cities, refugee camps and villages, there can be no justification for Palestinian security forces imprisoning and pursuing Palestinians because of their political positions or resistance activity.
The Palestinian Authority must immediately put an end to this policy. Palestinian political prisoners must be freed. The persecution of activists, resistance fighters and dissidents must end. Security coordination with the occupation must end.
In Mazid Saqf al-Hait’s case, there is also an immediate medical emergency. Lawyers for Justice has demanded that he receive full medical care and all necessary medication without delay, that an independent investigation be opened into the circumstances of his detention, solitary confinement and denial of treatment, that he be transferred to Nablus to ensure access to the courts and specialized medical services, and that he urgently appear before the appropriate medical committee to determine whether his health permits his continued detention.
Samidoun holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for Mazid’s physical safety and for ensuring his immediate access to necessary medical treatment. Israeli occupation checkpoints and closures cannot be used as an excuse to keep a sick Palestinian detainee away from medical treatment while the authority detaining him continues a years-long campaign of persecution over his political positions.
Freedom for Mazid Saqf al-Hait and all political prisoners held in Palestinian Authority prisons. The persecution of resistance fighters, activists and dissidents must end, and security coordination with the occupation must be terminated. Palestinian prisons must not become a second prison for a people already living under occupation, colonization, siege and imprisonment.
Free Mazid! Free all Palestinian political prisoners!
source: Samidoun