The Israel Prison Service (IPS) is preventing the treatment of a prisoner convicted on terrorism charges, who is in need of a kidney transplant, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said Wednesday.

The human rights group said the cousin of 46-year-old Ahmed al-Tamimi, now serving a life sentence in Israel, expressed his willingness in 2003 to donate one of his kidneys for the procedure. However, PHR says that foot-dragging on the part of the IPS and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, delayed the process. Tamimi, who suffers from renal insufficiency, undergoes dialysis three times a week at the IPS Medical and Mental Health Center in Ramle, where is serving out his sentence.

Tamimi's health has deteriorated since being remanded to the custody of the IPS in 1993, after he was convicted of deliberate manslaughter and terrorism. According to PHR, medical tests performed in 2003 established that Tamimi's 20 year-old cousin ¬ also from Ramallah ¬ was a suitable donor. In spite of this, the hospital and IPS have delayed performing the procedure for many months.

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Anat Litvein, a PHR activist, told Haaretz that "Israeli citizens receive this sort of service within several weeks. For Tamimi, it has taken month upon month."

In December 2005, the PHR filed a petition in Tamimi's name to the Tel Aviv District Court, which is currently reviewing it. In it, the PHR urged the court to order authorities to move ahead with the operation, explaining that the sooner the operation was performed, the better the chances were of its success. "Any delay is pushing the patient to the point of no return," the organization said.

The IPS responded to the allegations by saying that Tamimi was in good and stable condition, and that he was not in fatal danger. "The IPS recommended the transplant to Beilinson Hospital, which has not yet taken a decision on the matter despite repeated queries by our personnel," the IPS added.

Beilinson Hospital cited its recent changes to management to explain the delay: "The new management is reviewing the various aspects of the case, and the donor will be called for further tests involving tissue classification in the following days."