MSF Urges Release of Detained Palestinian Healthcare Workers

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has issued a forceful appeal for the immediate release of Palestinian healthcare workers being held by Israeli authorities, citing their detention conditions as dire and unjustified. The NGO's statement specifically highlighted Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, a Gaza-based doctor reportedly in solitary confinement and allegedly subjected to torture since his capture by Israeli forces over 18 months ago.

According to figures from Healthcare Workers Watch, 446 Palestinian healthcare professionals have been detained by Israel since October 2023, of whom six have tragically died in confinement. The NGO emphasized that this follows a disturbing pattern of medical personnel being targeted and unjustly imprisoned by Israeli authorities, with over 50 healthcare workers currently held in inhumane conditions.

MSF further called for the release of Dr. Mohammed Obeid, an orthopaedic surgeon detained for over 600 days, and urged global leaders to denounce Israel's actions towards these healthcare workers, asserting that silence equates to complicity. These detentions have drawn international attention, with both the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demanding the release of Abu Safia and other arbitrarily detained medical staff.