14 Palestinian Doctors from Gaza Detained in Israel Without Trial

SadaNews - The Physicians for Human Rights organization today (Thursday) submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court, demanding that Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir annul the detention orders of 14 doctors from the Gaza Strip, who have been held in Israeli prisons for extended periods without trial and without any charges being brought against them.

The petition also called for an urgent session to review their case.

According to the petition, most of the doctors, including department heads, surgeons, and senior specialists, were detained after October 7, 2023, while they were working inside hospitals in Gaza, with some being arrested from within medical facilities. They have been held since then, under harsh conditions, without any indictments against them, according to their lawyer.

The petition noted that despite repeated requests to the Chief of Staff to reconsider their detention orders, no effective response has been provided thus far.

Among the detained doctors are six who worked at Nasser Hospital (including the head of the surgery department, a cardiologist, and physicians from the intensive care and orthopedic departments), two doctors from Kamal Adwan Hospital (including the hospital director and a vascular surgeon), two doctors from the Indonesian Hospital (including the head of the orthopedic department), in addition to doctors from Al-Shifa, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, and Mohammed Al-Durra hospitals, along with one doctor who works at Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals.

The petition emphasized that the detention of these doctors is not only a grave violation of their rights but also directly contributes to exacerbating the collapse of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip.

According to the data presented in the petition, most hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed amid a severe shortage of medical equipment and professional staff, leaving hundreds of thousands of patients and injured individuals without adequate treatment.

The petition also points out that the detained doctors, including Dr. Hossam Abu Safia, whose detention was extended this week without specifying the duration, represent a critical mass of specialized medical personnel, as their absence deprives thousands of patients of treatment.

This occurs amid restrictions on both the entry of foreign doctors and the evacuation of patients, alongside the expulsion of dozens of international humanitarian organizations, including major medical organizations, further deepening the shortage of medical staff and contributing to the rapid collapse of the healthcare system in the region.

The petition demanded that the court compel the Chief of Staff to use his legal powers and immediately reconsider the continued detention of the doctors, given the illegality of their detention and the changing circumstances following the ceasefire and the urgent humanitarian need in the Gaza Strip.

Naji Abbas, the director of the detainees section at Physicians for Human Rights stated: "The detention of these doctors without trial is an illegal action that continues at a time when the healthcare system in Gaza is collapsing, leaving patients without treatment. This decision does not only affect the doctors; it threatens the lives of thousands of patients. Immediate action must be taken to end this policy and exert real pressure for the release of the fourteen doctors."