MSF demands Israel release detained Palestinian healthcare workers

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has called for the immediate release of Palestinian healthcare workers imprisoned by Israel.

The NGO said in a statement on Monday that it was “outraged by the treatment of healthcare workers, most of whom are being detained in dire conditions, without justification or cause”.
MSF highlighted the case of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who is in solitary confinement and has reportedly been tortured since being detained by Israel more than a year and a half ago.

His treatment “follows an appalling pattern of the Israeli authorities detaining and targeting medical staff across Palestine”, the organisation said.

The Physicians for Human Rights Israel group reports that more than 50 healthcare workers are currently being held in inhumane conditions by Israel, including 15 doctors. It has petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court for their release.

According to Healthcare Workers Watch figures from April, 446 Palestinian healthcare workers have been unlawfully detained by Israeli forces since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Six have reportedly been killed in detention, their bodies still held by Israel.

MSF also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mohammed Obeid, who has been imprisoned for more than 600 days, after being arrested while working at Kamal Adwan Hospital.