GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Palestinian Center for the Defense of Prisoners warned on Thursday that the lives of 16 doctors from the Gaza Strip detained in Israeli prisons are at serious risk due to harsh and inhumane detention conditions, calling for their immediate release.
In a statement, the center said the detained doctors are being held in solitary confinement, denied family visits and communication, and subjected to ill-treatment, starvation, medical neglect, and harsh interrogation as part of an Israeli policy targeting Palestinian healthcare workers who remained at their posts treating the wounded and sick throughout the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The center called for the immediate release of all detained Palestinian doctors, as well as all Palestinian prisoners, particularly children, the sick, women detainees, and those held under administrative detention. It said their continued imprisonment represents a stain on the conscience of the international community and institutions that claim to protect medical and humanitarian work.
It stressed that the detention of Palestinian doctors cannot be separated from the broader destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, saying that attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, and the imprisonment of healthcare workers constitute a direct assault on Palestinians’ right to healthcare and life. According to the center, these actions reflect a systematic policy aimed at stripping Gaza’s health sector of its medical professionals and punishing those who continued to provide care despite war, siege, and the collapse of the healthcare system.
The statement said the detained doctors are being held under extremely difficult conditions, including prolonged isolation, denial of family contact, inadequate access to food, medical care, and treatment, as well as a lack of transparency regarding the health conditions and whereabouts of some detainees. It warned that reports of torture, abuse, and denial of medication have heightened concerns for their lives.
The center highlighted the cases of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams as emblematic of the suffering endured by detained medical professionals. It said available information indicates that Abu Safiya has been subjected to abuse, solitary confinement, and threats, while Al-Hams has reportedly been denied medication and contact with his family and is experiencing a serious deterioration in his health.
According to the center, the detained doctors are: Dr. Ahmed Shahada, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hallaq, Dr. Raed Mahdi, Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa, Dr. Hamza Abu Subha, Dr. Ahmed Mousa, Dr. Nahid Abu Taima, Dr. Ghassan Abu Zuhri, Dr. Musab Sam’an, Dr. Hassan Al-Muqayyad, Dr. Mohammed Obeid, Dr. Akram Abu Ouda, Dr. Medhat Abu Tabanja, Dr. Omar Ammar, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams.
The center said keeping these doctors behind bars while Gaza faces an unprecedented healthcare crisis is a double crime, depriving thousands of patients of desperately needed medical expertise and leaving their families in constant fear due to the lack of information about their condition.
It added that the detention of doctors, denial of family visits, deprivation of basic rights, starvation, solitary confinement, and medical neglect constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law, which provides special protection for healthcare workers during armed conflict, as well as international standards governing the treatment of prisoners and detainees.
The center held Israeli authorities and the Israeli Prison Service fully responsible for the lives and physical and psychological well-being of the detained doctors, warning that their continued imprisonment under such conditions could lead to further humanitarian and health tragedies.
It renewed its call 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 take immediate action by visiting the detained doctors, documenting their conditions, ensuring they receive adequate medical care, and pressing for their immediate and unconditional release.
The center also called for an independent international investigation into the detention and treatment of Palestinian doctors in Israeli prisons, urging accountability for those responsible for torture and other abuses. It warned that every delay in international action places the lives of the detained doctors at even greater risk.
The statement concluded by stressing that the plight of the detained doctors will remain a central human rights issue, emphasizing that securing their freedom is an urgent humanitarian obligation and that continued silence over their detention amounts to complicity in the ongoing violations against them and against Gaza’s healthcare system.
