DaysofPal- At least 160 healthcare workers from Gaza, including more than 20 doctors, are believed to remain in Israeli detention facilities, as the World Health Organization (WHO) expresses deep concern over their well-being and safety.
Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical NGO, has confirmed that 162 medical staff, including some of Gaza’s most senior physicians, are still detained by Israeli authorities. 24 more people who were taken from hospitals during the conflict are still unaccounted for.
Muath Alser, director of HWW, condemned the detention of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare workers, calling it a violation of international law that exacerbates civilian suffering by depriving them of essential medical care.
“Israel’s targeting of the healthcare workforce in this manner is having a devastating impact on the provision of healthcare to Palestinians, with extensive suffering, countless preventable deaths, and the effective eradication of whole medical specialties,” Alser stated.
According to the WHO, 297 healthcare workers from Gaza have been detained by the Israeli military since the onset of the war. However, the organization lacks updated data on how many have been released or remain in custody. HWW reports that the actual number is even higher, asserting that 339 healthcare workers have been detained.
The WHO has voiced grave concerns over reports indicating that Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons face routine violence and mistreatment.
The Guardian and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) have documented testimonies from seven senior doctors who described being forcibly taken from hospitals, ambulances, and checkpoints in Gaza, transferred to Israeli-run prison facilities, and subjected to months of torture, beatings, starvation, and inhumane treatment before being released without charge.
“Frankly, no matter how much I talk about what I experienced in detention, it is only a fraction of what truly happened,” said Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of al-Shifa Hospital, who was detained for seven months before being released without charge.
“I am talking about clubbing, being beaten with rifle butts, and being attacked by dogs. There was little to no food, no personal hygiene, no water, no toilet, no toilet paper… I saw people who were dying there… No day passes without torture.”
The UN’s human rights office (UNOCH) has called for Israel to release medical personnel held arbitrarily immediately and to “end all practices that amount to enforced disappearances, torture, and other ill-treatment.”
UNOCH has previously stated that the widespread detention of healthcare workers by Israeli forces has significantly contributed to the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. Ajith Sunghay, head of the office for the occupied Palestinian territory at UNOCH, emphasized: “Those responsible for crimes under international law must be held to account.”
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