Israeli doctors participated in torture, alleges released director of al-Shifa Hospital

The director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the paediatrician Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was one of 50 Palestinian men released from Israeli detention last week, has alleged that medical staff in Israel’s military run detention centre at Sde Teiman are participating in beatings and denying essential medical care to detainees, leading to amputations and deaths.

“I was subjected to torture almost daily. My little finger was broken. I was repeatedly subjected to hitting on the head, causing bleeding multiple times,” he told reporters on 1 July at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where several of the detainees underwent check-ups after their release.

“The doctor there beats the detainees, and the nurse beats the detainees. This is in violation of all international laws,” he said. “They amputated the feet of several prisoners, those who are suffering from diabetes symptoms due to the lack of medical treatment for them.”

Abu Salmiya was arrested by Israeli forces in November, while evacuating the destroyed al-Shifa Hospital in a World Health Organization convoy of medical staff and patients. Before his arrest he had produced daily videos recording the dire conditions in the hospital.

Israel identified the hospital, Gaza’s largest, …