Palestine: MSF calls for the immediate release of all Palestinian healthcare workers arbitrarily detained by Israel
We continue to call for the release of the 95 Palestinian health workers who remain detained, including an MSF surgeon
Hussam Abu Safiya, a physician and director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza, remains in solitary confinement after being detained for one and a half years. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is outraged by the treatment of healthcare workers, most of whom are being detained in dire conditions, without justification or cause.
We join global calls for their immediate release. Physician Abu Safiya’s placement into solitary confinement and reported torture follow an appalling pattern of Israeli authorities detaining and targeting medical staff across Palestine.
His case is not isolated. According to the organization Healthcare Workers Watch, 95 Palestinian healthcare workers remain detained by Israeli authorities since October 2023. During the same time, 1,700 health staff have been killed, as well as 15 MSF colleagues.
MSF orthopedic surgeon, Mohammed Obeid, has been detained in Israel for more than 600 days in difficult conditions and without any contact with his family. He was arrested on Oct. 26, 2024 by Israeli forces while on duty at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. We continue calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
The practice of arbitrarily detaining, torturing and abusing Palestinian medical staff in Israel is unacceptable. For too long, too many world leaders have failed to condemn Israel’s conduct in Palestine. Silence has become complicity.
We call for the release of all arbitrarily detained medical personnel immediately. Pending their release, they must be granted access to adequate medical care and dignified detention conditions.
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