Gaza Herald – The Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Defense has warned that the lives of 16 doctors from the Gaza Strip remain at serious risk in Israeli detention, citing harsh prison conditions and calling for their immediate release.
In a statement issued Thursday, the center said the detained physicians are being subjected to solitary confinement, denial of family visits and communication, ill-treatment, starvation, medical neglect, and harsh interrogation, describing the measures as part of a retaliatory policy targeting Palestinian healthcare workers who continued treating wounded and sick civilians during the genocide.
The center said the continued detention of Palestinian doctors cannot be separated from the broader assault on Gaza’s healthcare system, arguing that attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, and the imprisonment of healthcare professionals undermine Palestinians’ right to medical care and further weaken the territory’s already devastated health sector.
It warned that the doctors are being held in extremely difficult conditions, with limited access to food, medical care, and legal protections, while information about the health status and whereabouts of some detainees remains unavailable. The center highlighted the cases of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, saying both face deteriorating conditions, including alleged isolation, threats, medical neglect, and denial of essential treatment.
The rights group called on the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), medical associations, and international human rights organizations to urgently visit the detained doctors, monitor their conditions, ensure they receive adequate medical care, and press for their immediate and unconditional release. It also urged an independent international investigation into the treatment of Palestinian medical personnel in Israeli custody.
