A Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy group has warned that the occupying Israeli regime persists in the illegal detention of 24 physicians from the Gaza Strip under exceedingly severe and inhumane circumstances.
The Palestinian Center for the Defense of Prisoners, in a statement released on Sunday, revealed that the physicians abducted by the Israeli regime have endured harsh and systematic mistreatment and abuse.
According to the rights group, two doctors, identified as Adnan al-Barsh and Iyad al-Rantisi, were killed by Israeli forces following extreme torture in the regime’s detention facilities.
The center urged the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations to take immediate and decisive action to ensure the prompt release of Palestinian doctors kept illegally in Israeli prisons.
It additionally referenced reports published by the UN and human rights organizations, including Physicians for Human Rights, which detailed occurrences of torture, violence, and psychological abuse experienced by healthcare professionals during their detention.
Furthermore, the center disclosed data showing that Israel has abducted more than 400 doctors, nurses, administrative personnel, and technicians from October 2023 to July 2025.
Although some of them were freed through prisoner exchange agreements or at other intervals, none were ever officially charged with any offenses.
Last July, the lawyer of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was abducted by the Israeli regime, said his client was being starved and tortured by Israeli forces and was in critical condition.
Ramy Abdu wrote on the social media platform X that he visited his client on July 9, and that the physical and mental condition of Dr. Abu Safiya was getting worse every day.
“He has lost over 40 kilograms, more than one-third of his body weight. At the time of his [abduction], he weighed 100 kilograms, today, he weighs no more than 60 kilograms.”
“On June 24, 2025, he was severely beaten. His room (Room 1, Section 24, Ofer Prison) was specifically raided. He was brutally assaulted in the chest area and sustained severe bruises to the face, head, back, and neck. The beating lasted approximately 30 minutes,” Abdu wrote.
According to the lawyer, after this brutal torture, Dr. Abu Safiya requested medical care, proper testing, and examination by a cardiologist, but the Israeli regime denied his request.
He said his client suffers from an irregular heartbeat, and his eyeglasses, which Abdu had recently sent to him, had been broken by the Israeli forces.
On December 27, 2024, the Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya. The raid put the hospital, the last functioning major medical facility in northern Gaza, out of service.
Human rights organizations have demanded the immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiya, but the Israeli regime has ignored the demands.
