The Continued Detention of Palestinian Doctors Constitutes a Compound Crime; Their Suffering in Israeli Prisons Demands Immediate Release and International Protection
The continued detention of the 16 Palestinian doctors in Israeli prisons, under harsh and inhumane conditions, poses a grave threat to their lives and safety. They are subjected to isolation, denial of family visits and communication, mistreatment, starvation, medical neglect and severe interrogation practices. These violations form part of a retaliatory Israeli policy targeting Palestinian medical personnel who remained at their posts and continued fulfilling their humanitarian and professional duties by treating the wounded and sick during the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
The detention of Palestinian doctors cannot be separated from the broader assault on the Palestinian healthcare sector. The targeting of hospitals and medical personnel, the arrest of doctors and the denial of their liberty and fundamental rights constitute a direct attack on the Palestinian people’s rights to healthcare and life. These practices demonstrate a systematic policy intended to deprive the healthcare system of its active and experienced professionals and to punish those who upheld the medical profession in the face of war, siege and widespread institutional collapse.
Detained doctors are being held under extremely difficult conditions, without family visits or communication and without adequate guarantees of access to food, medical treatment or appropriate care. Their health conditions and, in some cases, their places of detention remain deliberately concealed. This lack of transparency further increases concerns for their lives, particularly in light of testimonies documenting torture, mistreatment and the denial of medication to several detained doctors.
The cases of detained physicians Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams are stark examples of the suffering endured by Palestinian medical detainees. Serious information concerning Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention indicates that he has been subjected to abuse, isolation and threats. Dr. Al-Hams has reportedly been denied medication and communication with his family while experiencing a concerning deterioration in his health.
These are not isolated cases. They form part of a broader policy targeting Palestinian medical personnel because of their roles as witnesses, lifesavers and professionals committed to a humanitarian mission.
According to the information currently available to the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy, the Palestinian doctors detained in Israeli prisons include:
- Dr. Ahmad Shehadeh
- Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hallak
- Dr. Raed Mahdi
- Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa
- Dr. Hamza Abu Subha
- Dr. Ahmad Mousa
- Dr. Nahed Abu Tu‘ayma
- Dr. Ghassan Abu Zuhri
- Dr. Musab Samaan
- Dr. Hassan Al-Muqayyad
- Dr. Mohammed Obeid
- Dr. Akram Abu Odeh
- Dr. Marwan Al-Hams
- Dr. Omar Ammar
- Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya
- Dr. Medhat Abu Tabang’a
Keeping these doctors behind bars at a time when Gaza and the rest of Palestine urgently need every physician and experienced medical professional constitutes a compound crime. The harm is not limited to the detained doctors themselves. It extends to the hundreds and thousands of patients and wounded people deprived of their expertise and care, as well as to their families, who continue to live in fear and uncertainty because of the absence of information and communication.
The detention of doctors, the prohibition of visits, the denial of fundamental rights and their exposure to starvation, isolation and medical neglect constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, which provides special protection to healthcare personnel. These practices also violate international standards governing the treatment of prisoners and detainees, including their rights to medical care, adequate food, dignity, communication with their families and lawyers, and protection from torture and cruel or degrading treatment.
The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy holds the Israeli occupation authorities and prison services fully responsible for the lives and physical and psychological well-being of the detained doctors. Their continued detention under these conditions risks causing further medical and humanitarian catastrophes, particularly amid the escalating policies of medical neglect and retaliation directed against Palestinian prisoners generally, and detainees from the Gaza Strip and medical personnel in particular.
The World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, medical associations and international human rights organizations must take urgent and effective action to visit the detained doctors, disclose their conditions of detention, ensure their access to treatment and appropriate care, and exert serious pressure to secure their immediate and unconditional release.
An independent international investigation must also be opened into the circumstances surrounding the detention of Palestinian doctors and the violations committed against them inside Israeli prisons. Those responsible for their torture and deprivation of fundamental rights must be held accountable. The detention of medical personnel must not continue to be treated as a secondary or postponed issue, as every delay in meaningful action further endangers their lives and safety.
The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy renews its demand for the immediate release of all detained Palestinian doctors, as well as all Palestinian prisoners and detainees, particularly the sick, children, women and administrative detainees.
These doctors carried nothing but their humanitarian mission and stood only beside the wounded, the sick and those in need of medical care. Their continued detention is a stain on the international community and on the institutions that claim to protect medical and humanitarian work.
The issue of detained doctors will remain at the forefront of legal and humanitarian advocacy. Securing their freedom is an urgent obligation that cannot be delayed. Protecting them means protecting the rights to life, healthcare and human dignity. Silence regarding their continued detention amounts to indirect complicity in the ongoing violations committed against them and against the Palestinian healthcare system.
