In testimonies released to the press today, 10 Palestinian medics have described being tortured while in Israeli detention [1]. Fears are growing for the safety of the healthcare workers who are still detained.

During his detention, one nurse describes being blindfolded, handcuffed, and tortured for five days before he was finally freed. A doctor described beatings, obscene insults, and acts of humiliation while he was kept handcuffed outside on the cold gravel. He recounts that severely injured civilians were also detained alongside him, without access to medical care.

Their testimonies have been collected by Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine, an organisation which has been systematically documenting the killings and abductions of hospital staff in Gaza and the West Bank. The international organisation, which was set up by doctors, has issued the following statement:

“The intentional targeting of doctors, nurses, and paramedics is completely inexcusable. We are appalled by the ongoing detentions of healthcare workers, many of whom were abducted from hospitals or ambulances while on duty. Israel is showing utter disregard for the specific protections that ought to be afforded to healthcare workers during times of conflict, in what appear to be repeated, egregious breaches of international humanitarian law.”

Speculating on the reasons behind the ongoing detentions of healthcare workers, Prof. Ghassan Abu Sita, a British Palestinian surgeon who was working in Gaza for the first six weeks of the conflict, suggested that the detentions will lead to ‘show trials’ to enable Israel to criminalise the health system in Gaza [2]. He noted:

“It’s all part of the same narrative, a narrative that tries to justify the destruction of the health system” [3].

The number of healthcare workers being detained continues to rise. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has said that 99 Gazan healthcare workers remain in detention [4], although Israeli officials are declining to confirm the detainees’ whereabouts to their families. A further four healthcare workers are detained from the West Bank [5]. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated that they “have not been able to visit any Palestinian detainees held in Israeli places of detention since 7 October” [6]. The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Lynn Hastings, described the situation as “very, very concerning” [7].

ENDS

Notes:

1. Access to the anonymized testimonies is available upon request.
2. Link to tweet by Prof. Ghassan Abu Sita.
3. Interview with Al Jazeera Plus.
4. Link to statement from Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, released on 28/12/23.
5. Data collected by Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine.
6. ICRC statement.
7. UN press briefing.

Images: Photographs of some of the detained healthcare workers are available upon request.

This press release is sent out on behalf of Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine, Gaza Medic Voices, and Health Workers for Palestine:

• Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine is an independent initiative to monitor Israeli attacks on healthcare workers and healthcare facilities in Palestine.
• Gaza Medic Voices publishes first-hand accounts from healthcare workers in Gaza to raise awareness of the current situation on the ground. It is administered by an international team of medics who have all visited Gaza and know the contributors personally.
• Health Workers for Palestine is a non-partisan collection of healthcare workers, agencies, and non-governmental organizations concerned about the deteriorating healthcare and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.