Palestinian Healthcare Workers Among Hostages Released from Israeli Torture Camps
Israel is still holding at least 115 healthcare workers hostage, according to Healthcare Workers Watch.
More than two dozen Palestinian healthcare workers held hostage in Israel’s torture camps were supposed to be released yesterday, October 13, according to Healthcare Workers Watch-Palestine (HWW), an organization that tracks Isreal’s attacks on Palestine’s healthcare system.
“While not all releases are confirmed yet, the list includes 24 nurses, 7 doctors, and 2 paramedics,” the group said in a press release issued on Monday.
“While their release is warmly welcomed, there are at least 115 more Gazan healthcare workers who are still being held in Israeli detention,” HWW continued. “These include at least 20 doctors, of whom 15 are irreplaceable senior specialists.”
Of the 55 healthcare workers listed for release, Israeli soldiers abducted 44 from the hospitals where they were working; one person from an organized convoy to transfer patients through Israel-designated “safe routes”; and one person during a rescue mission, as per HWW.
Dr. Ahmad Mhanna, the director of Al-Awda Hospital, was not on the list, but was released on Monday, the group said. Israeli forces abducted Mhanna, an anaesthetist and intensive-care specialist, in 2023.
Of the 55 healthcare workers listed for release on Monday, Israeli soldiers abducted 44 from the hospitals where they were working.
It is not clear if renowned pediatrician Dr. Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been freed, according to DropSite News. On December 27, 2024, Israeli forces forced Safiya to evacuate everyone in the hospital, approximately 350 people. That evening, soldiers stripped, shackled, blindfolded, and beat him, along with the rest of the male members of the medical staff, according to a new documentary, “The Disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya,” produced by Al Jazeera Fault Lines. They abducted Safiya, and burned down the hospital.
On Monday, pursuant to the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released all 20 living Israelis who had been taken on October 7, including at least two IDF soldiers, and Israel released approximately 1,700 Palestinian hostages who had been abducted over the last two years, including six children and more than two dozen men over 60. Approximately 250 Palestinians serving lengthy or life sentences were also freed, although about 150 were exiled to Egypt, as per DropSite News. Israel threatened Palestinians in the West Bank with arrest if they celebrated the releases.
Over the last two years, Israel has disappeared more than 400 healthcare workers from Gaza and the West Bank, according to HWW.
Since the genocide began over two years ago, Israeli forces have targeted Gaza’s hospitals, ambulances, patients, and healthcare workers. Israel attacked close to 40 hospitals, and slaughtered more than 1,700 healthcare workers. The blockade forced doctors in Gaza to perform surgeries, including amputations, without anesthesia.
A year ago this week, Israel bombed the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Among the victims was Shaban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old software engineering student. Video captured the teenager, attached to an IV drip, engulfed in flames, burning alive. His mother, and at least three others, also perished in the attack.
Over the last two years, Israel has disappeared more than 400 healthcare workers from Gaza and the West Bank, according to HWW.
“I was helping people as a paramedic, I never expected something like this.”
“Israel’s systematic abduction of healthcare workers is a war crime which has decimated the hospital workforce in Gaza,” Dr. Muath Alser, the co-founder and director of HWW, said in a statement. “Israel must immediately and unconditionally release all the detained healthcare workers including the bodies of those tortured to death in detention.”
According to HWW, five healthcare workers were killed while held captive.
Healthcare workers detained in Israel’s torture camps have reported to HWW that they were beaten, sexually assaulted with foreign objects, sexually humiliated, and hung from the ceiling. A paramedic told the group he was hung from the ceiling and electrocuted.
“They put me in an overall that had electricity wires around it and put, like a headband with wires on my head,” they said, as per a report released last year by HWW. “I swear, it was so degrading, it was unbelievable. I was helping people as a paramedic, I never expected something like this.”
(The Carceral Report is using they/them pronouns for the victim as their gender is not included in HWW’s report.)
A nurse said he was hung from the ceiling, with his hands tied behind my back, while his captor subjected him to penile torture and beatings.
“I endured this torture for about 19 hours,” he said. “When I woke up, I found myself in a place that looked like a clinic, but I wasn’t sure if it was really a clinic or not. I didn’t know if I had been given a blood transfusion or not. Then, they returned me to the same room, but the second time was worse.”
Earlier this year, The Guardian published harrowing testimonies from senior doctors and surgeons’ — including from hospital director Mhanna, who was released on Monday — about the torture they endured while held hostage.
“I was taken to a military barracks where I spent 21 days,” Mhanna told his family in a letter, dictated to his attorney, as per The Guardian. “During this period, they took me to what they called the ‘Disco’ – an interrogation room with deafening music and freezing temperatures. I slept on gravel, wearing only a thin tracksuit.”
They told him he would be released, but he was sent to Naqab prison, where Israeli prison guards routinely torture their Palestinians victims.
“They used to let the dog drink from a bowl of water and then pour the rest over me,” Mhanna said, as per The Guardian. “I fell to the ground because my legs were shackled. They laughed and kicked me in the side.”
He continued: “At one point, they forced me to stand for six hours in the cold, arms raised and shackled, before interrogating me. I told them the same thing every time: ‘I am a doctor. I do not belong to anything else.’”
Below are the names of the healthcare workers held hostage who were listed for release on October 13, as per HWW:
Physicians
1. Dr Isam Hasan Salman Redwan (54 years old), Chest Surgery Specialist, Al-Shifa, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
2. Dr Mohammed Osama Ataya Hammouda (41 years old), Pediatrics Specialist, Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 342 days.
3. Dr Awni Mahmoud Rabah Jewana (53 years old), In Training Otolaryngologist, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days
4. Dr Abdullah Ahmed Shaaban Abu-Al-Jidian (53 years old), In Training General Surgeon, The Indonesian Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 356 days.
5. Dr Ameer Isaac Mohammed Al-Tayyan (49 years old), General Practitioner, Military Medical Services, Palestinian National Authority. Detained for 570 days.
6. Dr Mo’nis Rajab Muheisin Muheisin (28 years old), Volunteering General Practitioner, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
7. Dr Bilal Ahmed Abdelrazeq Mesleh (Al-Masri) (34 years old), General Practitioner, Kamal Adwan, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
Nurses
8. Mr. Abdallah Farid Abdallah Saadat (32 years old), Nurse, The Indonesian Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 690 days
9. Mr. Wael Abdulmajeed Abdulraheem Abdelhadi (57 years old), Chief Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 375 days.
10. Mr. Mohammed Rasheed Mohammed Al-Dalou (36 years old), Chief Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
11. Mr. Arafat Abdel-Raziq Ahmed Abu-Matar (42 years old), Chief Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
12. Mr. Yousef Subeh Ibraheem Abu-Nada (30 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
13. Mr. Mohammed Ayman Abdeljawwad Abu-Laban (28 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days
14. Mr. Mahmoud Salim Ahmed Zaitounia (29 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
15. Mr. Mohammed Jamal Issa Al-Azbat (33 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
16. Mr. Assem Emad Hammad Dardas (28 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
17. Mr. Mohammed Salman Ibrahim Jendia (22 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
18. Mr. Mohammed Jamal Mohammed Tafesh (41 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
19. Mr. Ahmed Nahed Mahmoud Ajjour (39 years old), Nurse, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
20. Mr. Mohammed Ismail Abdallah Abu-Moustafa (27 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
21. Mr. Ahmed Fawzi Hamdan Abu-Jame’ (22 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
22. Mr. Mohammed Hassan Moustafa Abu-Moustafa (26 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
23. Mr. Tareq Ziad Abdulraheem Abu-Selmia (26 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
24. Mr. Ahmed Fahim Ahmed Khalfallah (42 years old), Infection Control Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
25. Mr. Hassan Ibrahim Hassan Al-Awaini (33 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 611 days.
26. Mr. Maher Jameel Mohammed Abu-Hasan (55 years old), Chief Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
27. Mr. Ghassan Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Amoudi (35 years old), Nurse, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
28. Mr. Mahmoud Fayeq Mahmoud Abu-Amsha (35 years old), Nurse, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
29. Mr. Ibrahim Abdallah Mohammed Al-Aloul (35 years old), Nurse, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
30. Mr. Mohammed Mohammed Awwad Al-Moqayyad (36 years old), Nurse, General Administration of Mental Health, MoH, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
31. Mr. Emad Mohammed Awad Hamdouna (39 years old), Chief Nurse, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
Paramedics
32. Mr. Saleh Mohammed Saleh Al-Natour (49 years old), Paramedic, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
33. Mr. Mohammed Wael Abdulghani Attallah (24 years old), Paramedic, Military Medical Services, North Gaza. Detained for 290 days.
Technicians:
34. Mr. Asa’ad Abdel-Nasser Asa’ad Attalla (29 years old), Medical Laboratory Technician, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
35. Mr. Husam Saleh Mohammed Iktai’(24 years old), Medical Laboratory Technician, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
36. Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Ashour Al-Dalou (38 years old), Medical Laboratory Technician, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
37. Mr. Khalil Abdulraouf Hussien Salah (34 years old), Medical Laboratory Specialist, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
38. Mr. Mohammed Hmaid Salim Abu-Mousa (44 years old), Radiology Technician, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, Detained for 605 days.
39. Mr. Ibrahim Waheed Mohammed Al-Braim (32 years old), Radiology Technician, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
40. Mr. Saleh Abdel-Mouti Mohammed Al-Arabi (Al-Dofda’) (30 years old), Anesthesiology Technician, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
Hospital management and Support staff
41. Mr. Nahed Sa’di Mohammed Abu Al-Hasna (55 years old), Administrative Staff, Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), North Gaza. Detained for 657 days.
42. Mr. Moataz Wael Abdulshakour Al-Tawil (31 years old), Administrative Staff, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
43. Mr. Abdullah Msallam Ahmed Rfaia (21 years old), Administrative Staff, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
44. Mr. Mohammed Abdulraheem Abdullah Abu-Mhadi (42 years old), Administrative Staff, Palestinian Ministry of Health, North Gaza. Detained for 625 days.
45. Mr. Raed Ribhi Deeb Elian (50 years old), Administrative Staff, Coordination Unit with Non-Governmental Health Service Providers, Ministry of Health, North Gaza. Detained for 291 days.
46. Dr Ayman Abdulrahim Taha Al-Halabi (54 years old), General Director of Internal Audit Unit, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Gaza. Detained for 573 days.
47. Mr. Hussein Zuhair Mohammed Aabed (30 years old), Medical Secretary, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
48. Eng. Sameer Hassan Mahmoud Al-Ajrami (56 years old), Maintenance Staff, Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza. Detained for 352 days.
49. Mr. Mahmoud Hassan Ahmed Abu-Jaser (62 years old), Maintenance Staff, Palestinian Ministry of Health, North Gaza. Detained for 289 days.
50. Mr. Naser Naji Abdallah Saad (49 years old), Maintenance Staff, Palestinian Ministry of Health, North Gaza. Detained for 301 days.
51. Eng. Mukhallad Ibrahim Ahmed Qdaih (43 years old), Head of Hospital’s Kitchen, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 605 days.
52. Mr. Ahmed Farid Saleem Al-Ashqar (24 years old), Hospital Laundry Staff, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 609 days.
53. Mr. Ibrahim Yousef Abbas Al-Hourani (27 years old), Hospital Security Staff, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 626 days.
54. Mr. Mohammed Maher Mahmoud Abu-Seedo (23 years old), Hospital Sanitation Staff, Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis. Detained for 626 days.
55. Mr. Fadi Mouneer Omar Abu-Shahla (36 years old), Hospital IT Staff, General Administration of Computer and Information Systems, Ministry of Health, Gaza. Detained for 574 days.
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