Twenty-eight doctors from Gaza, including senior consultants in various medical fields, are being held in Israeli prisons, according to Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical organization. Eight of them are senior consultants in surgery, orthopaedics, intensive care, cardiology, and paediatrics. Twenty-one of those detained have been held for more than 400 days without being charged with any crimes by Israeli authorities. Three healthcare workers have been detained since the start of July.
On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that an Israeli undercover force detained Dr Marwan al-Hams, the head of Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip. His whereabouts are unknown, and the Israeli authorities have yet to publish a statement on his detention. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that two of its workers were taken into detention from a facility sheltering staff and their families in Dier al-Balah; one remains in Israeli custody.
According to the WHO, Israel has arrested and detained over 300 healthcare workers since the war began between Hamas and Israel in October 2023. HWW puts this figure higher, at over 400. Muath Alser, the director of HWW, stated that many healthcare workers were arrested at their work sites and remain held for months without communication, denied medical care, and experiencing terrible detention conditions. He urged those in power to pressure Israel to release the healthcare workers still under unlawful detention.
Hospitals in Gaza are already overwhelmed and struggling to function. Increasing hunger among medical staff has left many too weak to provide urgent medical care to malnourished and injured civilians. In February, the Guardian published accounts from senior Palestinian doctors held and then released from Israeli detention, who reported being tortured, beaten, and humiliated during their time in prison.
Those still being held by the Israeli authorities include Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained at Israel’s Ofer prison since December 2024. His lawyer told Sky News that his health was deteriorating, and that he was being beaten and tortured. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused medical staff in Gaza, including doctors, of involvement in Hamas terror activity, but did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claim.
Two senior doctors are known to have died in Israeli detention. Their bodies have not yet been returned to their families. The detention of medical staff from Gaza in Israeli prisons has been condemned by the WHO and the UN, who have called for their immediate release. Reports of torture, violence, and psychological abuse of healthcare workers while in detention have been verified by the UN.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jul/26/rising-number-of-doctors-among-hundreds-of-medical-staff-detained-in-gaza-say-rights-groups
