+360 Palestinian medical staff in “catastrophic” detention as Gaza deaths mount
Shafaq News – Gaza
On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza warned of “catastrophic” detention conditions for Palestinian healthcare workers in Israeli prisons, denouncing abuse and forced disappearances.
In a statement, the ministry confirmed that 361 health professionals remain detained, while Israeli authorities block human rights organizations from monitoring their situation. It urged international and United Nations institutions to press for their immediate release.
Human Rights Watch documented that since the war began in October 2023, Israeli forces “arbitrarily” detained Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza, deported them to prisons inside Israel, and subjected them to mistreatment. Released doctors, nurses, and paramedics described humiliation, beatings, forced stress positions, prolonged blindfolding, denial of medical care, and sexual abuse.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) in February 2024 warned of a “systematic disregard for human rights” in detention facilities, citing medical neglect, torture, deaths in custody, and severe overcrowding.
According to Palestinian prisoner groups, Israel has detained nearly one million Palestinians since 1967, including more than 50,000 children under 18 and over 17,000 women and girls. In the same period, over 60,000 administrative detention orders have been issued—renewable terms imposed without charge or trial, based on secret files.
The developments coincided with the Knesset’s National Security Committee approving a draft law to allow executions of Palestinian prisoners, a measure Palestinian rights groups condemned as an “unprecedented act of brutality.”
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes intensified across Gaza since dawn, killing more than 25 people, according to Palestinian media. A drone strike inside Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis injured a doctor, while four members of one family were killed near the Palestinian Medical Council building in Gaza City. Civil defense teams recovered nine bodies from al-Nasr Street, and a strike on a displacement tent in al-Nuseirat killed one and injured nine.
#فيديو | محاولات إسعاف الطبيب مروان عابدين الذي أصيب بطلق ناري من مسيرة اسرائيلية وهو على رأس عمله داخل مجمع ناصر الطبي بخانيونس جنوب القطاع.لمشاهدة الفيديو: https://t.co/IEJHzmfLkt pic.twitter.com/s9M9q9wjPK
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) September 29, 2025
The Ministry of Health reported that the overall death toll from Israel’s campaign since October 7 has reached 66,005, with 168,162 wounded.
