Photo Credit: Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI)
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is going from bad to worse. Food and medical supplies have not entered the strip in over a month and people–men, women, children and the elderly–die day after day from Israeli bombs, disease, infection, and inadequate shelter. Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has been in contact with health workers in Gaza over the course of the war. Since October 2023, they report, there have been hundreds of documented attacks on Palestinian medical personnel. At least 500 have been killed and over 200 arrested. This, they say, “reflect[s] a systematic Israeli policy targeting healthcare workers.” Targeting and obstructing medical teams in Gaza is a violation of international humanitarian law.
A new PHRI report has collected testimonies from detained Gazan medical workers. Abducted from their workplaces, held for months without charges, subjected to torture, sexual abuse, and denied medical care, PHRI writes that “these atrocities shake us to the core,” and are demanding protection for all health workers and accountability from the Israeli army and leadership.
From the testimonies:
I was arrested by the army. They arrested me inside the hospital while I was in my work uniform. Then they took off our clothes and took us out in just our underwear while it was raining. Inside the hospital, they kicked me a lot in the stomach, and as a result, I developed a hernia in my testicles and stomach. That day….we were blindfolded, our hands were handcuffed and blood was dripping from them. On the way there, three soldiers beat me up and told me that I belonged to [the elite Hamas military force,] Nukba.