Israel's military tortured Palestinian healthcare workers, HRW says
In its latest report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that Israel has arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers since the war on Gaza began on 7 October, deported them to detention facilities in Israel, and allegedly tortured and ill-treated them.
"The detention of healthcare workers in the context of the Israeli military’s repeated attacks on hospitals in Gaza has contributed to the catastrophic degradation of the besieged territory’s healthcare system," the report reads.
Released doctors, nurses and paramedics told the organisation of their mistreatment, which included "humiliation, beatings, forced stress positions, prolonged cuffing and blindfolding, and denial of medical care".
"They also reported torture, including rape and sexual abuse by Israeli forces, denial of medical care, and poor detention conditions for the general detainee population."
Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said that "the torture and other ill-treatment of doctors, nurses, and paramedics should be thoroughly investigated and appropriately punished, including by the International Criminal Court (ICC)".