Rights group says Israel has systematically abused Palestinian health workers for their profession

Israel has systematically targeted Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza, arbitrarily detaining them without charge or access to legal counsel, and submitting them to torture and abuse, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI).

Israel has systematically targeted Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza, arbitrarily detaining them without charge or access to legal counsel, and submitting them to torture and abuse, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). Between July and December, lawyers working with the Israeli nonprofit group said they visited over two dozen Palestinian medical workers, including physicians, nurses and paramedics, aged between at least 21 and 69, who had spent more than six months in isolation after having been seized by Israeli forces. In the 21-page report released Wednesday, PHRI said that the testimonies from healthcare personnel indicate that their arrests were primarily used by Israel to gather intelligence rather than investigate their alleged involvement in armed conflict or link them to criminal activity. “This suggests a systemic policy that violates human rights and, more broadly, indicates that such arrests are arbitrary and unlawful under international legal standards,” PHRI said. The heathcare professionals interviewed by PHRI were held in several facilities run by the Israeli military and the Israel Prison Service (IPS), including Sde Teiman, Ktzi’ot Prison and Nafha Prison, in southern Israel, Petah Tikva in central Israel and Ofer Prison, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Their testimonies suggest detainees were subjected to dehumanizing, near-daily abuse, the group said. Healthcare workers have alleged they experienced sexual abuse, beatings, dog attacks, starvation, sensory overload and had boiling water poured on them.