GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday offered assistance to a former prisoner of Israel who suffers from cancer, his office said.

Haniyeh phoned Rania al-Saka and promised to help her get medical treatment in response to an appeal by the ex-detainee who lives in the West Bank, the Hamas premier's office said in a statement.

Al-Saka, who was jailed by Israel for five years, told the Gaza-based newspaper Palestine that she approached Haniyeh because the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority had not helped her.

"After the PA disavowed me, and the Minister of Health Hani Abdeen accused me of insanity, the only choice I have is to ask premier Haniyeh to help treat me for cancer and hepatitis and a chronic virus."

According to the newspaper, al-Saka underwent 23 surgeries in her jaw which was broken during interrogation by Israeli officers.

"After I was released, I received intensive medical treatment at the expense of the Palestinian presidency, and my jaw was reformed after it was smashed as a result of torture in Israeli jails. I was punished there for unsuccessful attempt to stab an Israeli soldier," al-Saka said.

In December, al-Saka threatened to set herself on fire in front of President Mahmoud Abbas' offices in Ramallah in protests at the PA's "false promises" to pay for her cancer treatment, Palestine newspaper reported.