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Israeli troops have abused, mistreated and humiliated Palestinian health workers detained during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced today.

The NGO’s complaint comes after the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported at the beginning of June that the Israeli army was conducting criminal investigations into the deaths of more than four dozen Palestinians, including health workers.

 

‘The Israeli government’s mistreatment of Palestinian health workers has continued in the shadows and must stop immediately,’ said Balkees Jarrah, HRW’s acting Middle East director.

For Jarrah, ‘the torture and other ill-treatment of doctors, nurses and health workers must be thoroughly investigated and duly punished, including by the International Criminal Court (ICC)’.

Based on interviews with eight released health professionals and victims of ill-treatment, HRW denounced the practice of beatings, abuse (including sexual abuse) and lack of medical care. It also reported that these professionals were blindfolded for days at a time.

The eight professionals were detained without charge for periods ranging from seven days to five months, and most were arrested at work during the Israeli siege of Gaza’s hospitals.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported at the beginning of June that the Israeli army was conducting criminal investigations into the deaths of 48 Palestinians in Israeli detention centers since October 7, 2023.

The cases include the deaths of Adnan al-Bursh, a father of six, surgeon and head of orthopedics at Al Shifa Hospital, who died on 19 April in Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

The doctor Eyad al-Rantisi, director of a women’s health centre at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, died in November while being interrogated by the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal intelligence service), six days after his arrest, the local press reported in June, following an investigation carried out by a Justice Ministry unit.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Israeli soil on 7 October 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and more than two hundred hostages, according to the Israeli authorities.

Following the Hamas attack, Israel unleashed a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused more than 40,000 deaths, mostly civilians, and a humanitarian disaster, destabilizing the entire Middle East region.