Over 160 Gaza medical workers detained by Israel amid torture reports

Express Tribune

25-02-2025

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Over 160 healthcare workers, including more than 20 doctors, are still being detained in Israeli prisons, with reports of widespread abuse and torture.
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed alarm over the inhumane treatment of these vital medical professionals, who are being held in Israeli custody amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Palestinian medical NGO Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW) confirmed that 162 healthcare workers, some of Gaza's most senior physicians, are still being held in Israeli detention facilities, with an additional 24 reported missing after being abducted from hospitals during Israeli raids.
The detainees, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, were subjected to violent interrogations, with multiple reports of torture, beatings, and starvation during their imprisonment.
Muath Alser, director of HWW, slammed the detentions as illegal under international law, stressing that the capture of healthcare professionals is a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly prohibit the targeting of medical personnel in conflict zones. Alser also warned that this assault on Gaza's healthcare workforce has compounded the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis, leading to preventable deaths and a collapse of essential medical services.
"Israel's actions are directly undermining Gaza's ability to respond to the immense suffering of its people," Alser said. "By detaining medical staff, they are denying Palestinians critical care and exacerbating the already dire situation."
According to the WHO, 297 healthcare workers have been detained by Israeli forces since the war began, though reports from HWW suggest that the true number may be higher. Despite these numbers, the WHO has been unable to secure updated information on how many detainees have been released or remain in custody.
Testimonies from former detainees, including senior doctors like Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Gaza's al-Shifa hospital, paint a horrifying picture of life in Israeli detention. Dr. Selmia, who was detained for seven months before being released without charge, described being tortured with rifle butts, attacked by dogs, and deprived of basic necessities such as food, water, and hygiene.
'I was beaten so badly that I couldn't walk,' Dr. Selmia recalled. 'There was no food, no soap, no clean water. I saw people die in those cells. Every day was filled with abuse.'
The United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOCH) has condemned Israel's actions, calling for the immediate release of all detained healthcare workers and for an end to practices that amount to torture, enforced disappearances, and other forms of ill-treatment.
"Under international humanitarian law, health workers, facilities, and patients must be protected, not targeted," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General. 'The Israeli authorities' continued detainment of Gaza's health professionals is a war crime and an unconscionable attack on human rights."
Despite Israel's claims that those detained are suspected of being involved in 'terrorist activities,' the UN and other international bodies have rejected these allegations, demanding evidence to substantiate such claims. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly failed to provide proof to justify the widespread detention of medical workers.
Israel's defense of its actions, including claims that hospitals were used as 'military centers' by Hamas, has also been called into question by the international community, with no clear evidence produced to support such accusations.
'Israel must be held accountable for its systematic violations of international law,' said Ajith Sunghay, head of UNOCH for the occupied Palestinian territories. 'The ongoing detention and mistreatment of healthcare workers is directly contributing to the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system and the suffering of its people.'
The case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, has drawn widespread condemnation after it was revealed that he had been tortured during his detention in Israeli custody. His lawyer, who was allowed to visit him for the first time in Ofer Prison in Ramallah, confirmed that Abu Safiya had been physically abused, denied medical care, and subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions.
As Gaza's medical system continues to collapse under the weight of the Israeli military's war crimes, the international community must take immediate steps to end the abuse of medical personnel and ensure that the detained workers are released without delay. The systematic targeting of healthcare professionals in Gaza is not only a violation of international law but a direct assault on the most basic principles of humanity.