Rising number of doctors among hundreds of medical staff detained in Gaza, say rights groups
Twenty-one of those detained have been held for more than 400 days. HWW said none had been charged with any crimes by the Israeli authorities. Three healthcare workers have been detained since the start of July.
On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli undercover force detained Dr Marwan al-Hams, head of Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip. His whereabouts are unknown, and the Israeli authorities have yet to publish a statement on his detention. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that two of its workers were taken into detention from a facility sheltering staff and their families in Dier al-Balah; one remains in Israeli custody.
According to the WHO, Israel has arrested and detained more than 300 healthcare workers since the the war between Hamas and Israel began in October 2023. HWW puts this figure higher, at over 400.
Muath Alser, director of HWW, said: 'Many of the health workers were arrested at their work sites, and they remain held for months – often without communication, being denied medical care when needed, and suffering from terrible detention conditions. We urge people in power to pressure Israel to release those health workers still under unlawful detention.'
Overwhelmed hospitals are already struggling to function, while increasing hunger among medical staff in Gaza has left many too weak to provide urgent medical care to malnourished and injured civilians, doctors have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism.
In February, the Guardian published detailed accounts from senior Palestinian doctors held and then released from Israeli detention who reported being tortured, beaten and humiliated during their time in prison.
Those still being held by the Israeli authorities include Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained at Israel's Ofer prison since December 2024. Earlier this week his lawyer told Sky News his health was deteriorating and that he was being beaten and tortured.
In a statement to the Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused medical staff in Gaza, including doctors, of involvement in Hamas terror activity. It did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claim.
'In the context of IDF activity in combat zones, individuals suspected of involvement in terror activity are arrested and investigated. Those found not to be involved in terror activity are released.
'A regrettable outcome of Hamas' exploitation of hospitals is the involvement of medical staff, including doctors, directly in Hamas' terror activity. Put plainly, the IDF is not interested in medical staff vis a vis their roles as medical professionals, but due to their potential involvement in Hamas terror,' said the statement.
Two senior doctors are known to have died in Israeli detention: Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Kamal Adwan hospital, died at Shikma prison; Dr Adnan al-Bursh, head of the orthopaedic department at al-Shifa hospital, died shortly after being transferred to Ofer prison in April 2024. Former detainees claim he died from torture and had suffered severe sexual violence in the hours before his death.
Their bodies have not yet been returned to their families.
The detention of medical staff from Gaza in Israeli prisons has been condemned by the WHO and the UN who have called for their immediate release.
Reports of torture, violence and psychological abuse of healthcare workers while in detention have been verified by the UN and published in reports by organisations such as HWW, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
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Daily Mail
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
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‘A deadly scheme': Palestinians face indiscriminate gunfire at food sites
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The IDF said its forces had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat but denied targeting civilians, adding that it was investigating the events. The GHF said the incident occurred in an area beyond their secure distribution site and control. Ehab Nuor visited four food sites run by the GHF in June and July, and faced gunfire near all four. All of these sites were within areas the IDF designated for evacuation, placing Palestinians in direct danger. Between 16 and 20 June, as the world focused on the war between Israel and Iran, the shootings intensified, injuring 600 Palestinians near food sites. Videos show floodlights cutting through the dark around GHF sites, as an endless stream of Palestinians carry away white flour bags and gunshots ring out. Other videos show Palestinians huddled outside the perimeter of a GHF site, with gunshots audible. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Ball said machine guns were widely issued to IDF infantry and mounted on vehicles. By comparison, Hamas had some machine guns and captured IDF weapons but these were rarely seen except on ceremonial occasions. All survivors and patients treated by doctors said they had come under Israeli fire. The Israeli military released a video of an IDF spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, standing near a GHF food site, saying: 'The idea is to give aid directly to Gazan civilians and bypass Hamas's hands … This is a new solution that brings aid directly to the people of Gaza … They have been going in and out peacefully …… They feel safe'. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. But the evidence analysed indicates otherwise. Under international humanitarian law, those involved in aid delivery and those backing its operations have a duty to ensure humanitarian assistance is provided safely, impartially, and without exposing civilians to additional risk, including ensuring safe access. Reviewing the Guardian's findings, Adil Haque, a professor of law at Rutgers University, New Jersey, said: 'These are grave breaches of the fourth Geneva convention as well as war crimes under customary international law and the ICC [international criminal court] statute. A soldier may argue that they acted reasonably to defend themselves or others. However, it is neither reasonable nor proportionate to fire on unarmed civilians at a distance.' Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for the Palestinian territories, who has family members trapped in Gaza, believes this is not a humanitarian system. 'It's a deadly scheme,' she said. Recent reports indicated that some members of the Israeli military had been ordered to open fire on civilians collecting food, while US contractors said their colleagues had fired live ammunition at Palestinians collecting food in Gaza. An IDF spokesperson told the Guardian: 'The IDF unequivocally denies the false allegation that it deliberately targets Palestinian civilians. The army's binding orders prohibit forces operating in the area from intentionally firing at minors. The IDF operates according to international law and upholds the highest ethical standards in its operations.' The IDF said it operated near the new distribution areas to 'facilitate the aid efforts while continuing IDF operational activity in the Gaza Strip', but did not confirm details of the review into incidents of civilian harm. It said that after an examination by its southern command, 'instructions [were] issued to field forces following lessons learned'. It added that IDF forces had conducted 'learning processes aimed at improving the operational response … and minimising possible friction between the population and the IDF' and this had been achieved through 'the installation of fences, signage placement, the opening of additional routes, and other measures'. A GHF spokesperson accused the Guardian of aiding a terrorist organisation and said: 'The false and exaggerated statistics used in these reports seem to directly align with the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry … GHF has communicated to the UN and other humanitarian groups that we remain flexible and willing to sit down and address their concerns to find a path forward to collaborate and coordinate to securely deliver the maximum amount of aid possible.' Earlier this week, the US ambassador to Israel called the GHF food distribution 'phenomenal', dismissing reports of IDF fire killing Palestinians as 'nonsense'. He announced the possibility of opening 12 more food sites, and commencement of a 24 hour operation. For Nuor, there is no respite. He now starves in a tent along with his family. Additional reporting by Hoda Osman and Zarifa Abou Quora
The Sun
9 hours ago
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