The health condition of Palestinian doctor Murad Walid Murad Al-Qouqa, who is detained in Israeli prisons, has become a source of grave concern for his family. Since his arrest inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, he has reportedly been subjected to torture, ill-treatment, and medical neglect. He is currently suffering from illnesses and injuries that have worsened due to harsh detention conditions and the denial of necessary medical treatment.
Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa, 47, is a consultant in orthopedic and spinal surgery and the head of the Orthopedic and Spinal Surgery Unit at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. He devoted many years to treating patients and saving the lives of wounded and injured people. Despite the extremely dangerous conditions in the Gaza Strip, he remained committed to his medical and humanitarian mission and refused to abandon his patients or neglect his duty toward them.
On March 19, 2024, Israeli forces arrested Dr. Al-Qouqa during their raid on Al-Shifa Medical Complex while he was carrying out his duties and treating patients and wounded people. He was taken away along with several members of the medical staff following the siege and storming of the hospital and has remained in detention ever since.
According to his wife, who was in the southern Gaza Strip at the time of his arrest, military operations had cut off the roads between them, preventing her from seeing or communicating with him before he was detained. News of his arrest reached the family suddenly and came as a severe shock. The family later received information from a lawyer and other testimonies indicating that he had been subjected to beatings, torture, and ill-treatment.
Available information indicates that Dr. Al-Qouqa sustained a serious injury to his eye that affected his vision, in addition to the physical and psychological violations he endured throughout the different stages of his detention. He also suffers from a herniated disc, high blood pressure, and a stomach ulcer. He was reportedly denied his blood pressure medication for two months or longer, significantly increasing the risks to his health and life.
His severe physical deterioration is clearly reflected in the loss of approximately 45 kilograms of body weight as a result of starvation, medical neglect, and harsh detention conditions. This dramatic weight loss demonstrates the scale of suffering he has endured since his arrest.
According to the latest available information, Dr. Al-Qouqa is being held in the Negev Prison following a long period during which he was transferred between several prisons and detention facilities. Throughout this process, he was reportedly subjected to torture and physical and psychological harm. A lawyer was eventually able to visit him after lengthy periods without contact. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross has not yet been permitted to visit him, amid severe restrictions imposed on visits to detainees and communication with them.
The consequences of his arrest have not been limited to the deterioration of his health. His family home was severely damaged during the war and became uninhabitable. His wife was therefore forced to flee more than ten times to escape the continuous bombardment before temporarily settling in a room inside her father’s home.
His immediate household consists of two people, but Dr. Al-Qouqa’s responsibilities extended far beyond his own home. He financially supported the children of his brothers who were killed and was a central source of support for members of his extended family and relatives. His absence has therefore left an enormous void and intensified feelings of fear, anxiety, and insecurity, particularly amid the severe lack of information regarding his health and fate.
For his wife, the absence of certainty remains the most painful aspect of this ordeal. There is no known date for his return and no regular information about his health. Instead, she receives only limited and sporadic updates that do little to ease her fears, while she continues to wait for his release and safe return.
The case of Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa cannot be separated from the broader reality facing detained Palestinian doctors, which represents one of the most serious forms of targeting against the Palestinian healthcare sector since the beginning of the war of genocide. Sixteen doctors, alongside dozens of other healthcare workers, remain detained in Israeli prisons. Several of them were arrested inside hospitals or while carrying out their humanitarian duty of treating wounded and sick civilians.
Documented testimonies reveal that detained doctors have been subjected to torture, starvation, medical neglect, and isolation. They have also been denied visits and regular communication with their families and lawyers. Several of them suffer from injuries and chronic illnesses that have worsened because of detention conditions and the absence of appropriate medical care.
The arrest and targeting of doctors constitute a direct attack on the entire Palestinian healthcare system. The consequences are not limited to the detainees and their families, but also deprive civilians of specialized medical professionals whose expertise is urgently needed, particularly amid the widespread collapse of hospitals and medical facilities across the Gaza Strip.
The arrest of Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa from inside a hospital while he was performing his medical duties, followed by his reported torture and denial of treatment, constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law. These rules guarantee protection for doctors and healthcare workers and prohibit their targeting for carrying out their duty to treat patients and save lives.
In conclusion, The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy calls upon the international community, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and international human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to obtain full information about Dr. Al-Qouqa’s health condition, ensure that he receives the necessary medical treatment, enable the Red Cross and lawyers to visit him regularly, and work toward his immediate release, along with the release of all detained doctors and healthcare workers.
The Center stresses that the continued international silence surrounding the arrest, torture, and denial of medical care of Palestinian doctors provides Israel with cover to continue its violations and places the lives of detainees at genuine risk. These systematic practices include torture, starvation, medical neglect, isolation, and deprivation of communication with the outside world.
