Gaza Herald – Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, warned Thursday that Palestinian detainees recently released by Israel are arriving in “horrific” physical and psychological condition and require specialized, long-term medical treatment for wounds and trauma consistent with systematic torture.
Abu Salmiya said Gaza’s health system has remained in collapse; since the ceasefire, there has been no meaningful recovery in services, medicine stocks, or capacity to treat complex injuries.
The medical chief said hospitals are overwhelmed: staff face shortages of specialist surgeons, critical medicines, diagnostic tools, and rehabilitative services needed for survivors of prolonged abuse.
He urged urgent international medical evacuations, deployment of trauma surgical teams and mental-health specialists, and immediate delivery of supplies and equipment, warning that without rapid, large-scale support, many released prisoners will suffer lifelong disability and untreated psychological damage.
Abu Salmiya’s warning underlines a grim reality: the end of captivity is not the end of harm. Gaza’s crippled health sector, shattered hospitals, destroyed supply chains, and exhausted personnel after two years of genocide cannot absorb the scale of medical and rehabilitative needs now emerging from Israel’s prison system. International health agencies and donor states must act now to provide the specialized care these survivors need.
