Twenty-eight doctors from Gaza are being held inside Israeli prisons, eight of whom are senior consultants in surgery, orthopaedics, intensive care, cardiology and paediatrics, according to data from Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical organisation.
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.
