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THE CASE OF A DOCTOR’S DISAPPEARANCE
ISRAEL’S SYSTEMIC TORTURE OF PALESTINIAN HEALTH WORKERS
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Visual by Visualizing Palestine
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Fact, figure, or termDescriptionSourceYear (published)Doc TitlePageLinkLast Accessed (web pages)Notes
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Enforced disappearance"An enforced disappearance is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law." Cases like Dr. Rantisi's fit the definition of enforced disappearance because Israeli authorities do not release any about his fate, whereabouts, and grounds for detention with family, lawyers, or other advocates, and deny access to a lawyer.
United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
-About enforced disappearance-
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-disappearances/about-enforced-disappearance#:~:text=An%20enforced%20disappearance%20is%20considered,deprivation%20of%20liberty%20or%20by
October 24, 2024-
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Dr. Iyad Rantisi was director of the maternity department at Kamal Adwan Hospital.Dr. Iyad Rantisi was a prominent senior Palestinian doctor whose position, arbitrary arrest by Israeli forces, and murder in Israeli custody has been covered by multiple sources. Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024-
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Haaretz2024
Israel Arrested a Senior Doctor in Gaza. Six Days Later, He Died in a Shin Bet Interrogation Facility
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https://archive.ph/g8oLU
October 24, 2024-
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New York Times2024
Many of Gaza’s Medical Workers Have Been Detained or Killed
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https://archive.ph/QsplR
October 24, 2024-
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310 Palestinian medical workers abducted by Israeli forces between October 7, 2023–June 25, 2024, as part of systemic Israeli attacks on Gaza’s health system. "The Gaza Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces have detained at least 310 Palestinian healthcare workers since October 7. Healthcare Workers Watch-Palestine, a nongovernmental organization, documented 259 detentions of healthcare workers and collected 31 accounts describing torture and other abuses by Israeli authorities, including the use of stress positions, deprivation of adequate food and water, threats of sexual violence and rape, and degrading treatment."
Human Rights Watch
2024
Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
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https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured
October 24, 2024
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DISPLACED
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Dr. Rantisi treated patients under impossible conditions in north Gaza, as Israeli forces pressured the hospital to evacuate. On October 9, 2023, Israeli forces ordered Kamal Adwan hospital to evacuate within 24 hours, an impossible demand. The hospital then faced months of threats and siege by the Israeli military. "Medical staff told ABC News that Al-Awda Hospital, Indonesian Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital -- which are all partially functioning -- are in the mandatory evacuation zones and are being ordered to evacuate their medical centers. "We are really under siege, and we are the only hospital providing services to children in northern Gaza," Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told ABC News..."ABC News20243 northern Gaza hospitals say they are being ordered to evacuate, putting patients at riskhttps://abcnews.go.com/International/3-northern-gaza-hospitals-ordered-evacuate-putting-patients/story?id=114635033October 24, 2024
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On November 10, 2023, he decided to leave Gaza City with his family, walking south along a designated “safe” route."Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, Dina’s father, was leaving northern Gaza on 10 November with his family to the south, on the Israeli-designated “safe corridor”, when he was stopped by Israeli forces."Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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DISAPPEARED
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At a military checkpoint, Israeli forces spotted Dr. Rantisi’s scrubs and pulled him aside. They ordered his family to continue walking without him.

“The last words I said to him were, 'May God protect you, my father, my love.'" –Dina, daughter of Dr. Rantisi
"Rantisi was detained at an army checkpoint while attempting to cross from north to south Gaza, following the Israeli military's orders for the civilian population to evacuate at the beginning of the war. He said that Rantisi was detained by the military and never heard from since." Dr. Rantisi's family noted that he was wearing scrubs at the time of the evacuation, so would have been identifiable as medical personell. His daughter, Dina, reported her last words to her father. Haaretz2024
Israel Arrested a Senior Doctor in Gaza. Six Days Later, He Died in a Shin Bet Interrogation Facility
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https://archive.ph/g8oLU
October 24, 2024-
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Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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MURDERED
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Dr. Rantisi was tortured and killed within six days of his arrival to an Israeli torture camp. Israeli authorities did not inform his family.Haaretz reported, "He was arrested November 11 and was declared dead six days later at Shikma Prison, the site of a Shin Bet interrogation facility."Haaretz2024
Israel Arrested a Senior Doctor in Gaza. Six Days Later, He Died in a Shin Bet Interrogation Facility
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https://archive.ph/g8oLU
October 24, 2024
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B'tselem has documented systemic torture and abuse at Shikma interrogation center prior to October 7, with conditions across all Israeli prisons worsening after October 7.B'tselem2015
Backed by the System: Abuse and Torture at the Shikma Interrogation Facility
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https://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201512_backed_by_the_system
October 24, 2024
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A B'tselem report describes that, after October 7, "more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities, both military and civilian, were converted into a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates. Such spaces, in which every inmate is intentionally condemned to severe, relentless pain and suffering, operate in fact as torture camps."B'tselem2024
Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps
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https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202408_welcome_to_hell_eng.pdf
October 24, 2024
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While the Israeli government has not released details of Dr. Rantisi's case or cause of death, testimony from other released detainees has painted a picture of widespread torture and medical neglect in Israeli prisons, with Dr. Rantisi reportedly experiencing severe beatings and torture.Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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CENSORED
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An Israeli court issued a six-month gag order to prohibit the media from reporting on his murder.
Haaretz reports: "After Rantisi died, the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court issued a six-month gag order prohibiting publication of all details of the case, including the existence of the gag order. The court order expired in May." Haaretz was the first to report information on the case on June 18, 2024, over six months from his November arrest.
Haaretz2024
Israel Arrested a Senior Doctor in Gaza. Six Days Later, He Died in a Shin Bet Interrogation Facility
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https://archive.ph/g8oLU
October 24, 2024
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For months, Dr. Rantisi’s family desperately searched for information on his whereabouts.
Dr. Rantisi's family told Middle East Eye that they assumed he was alive and searched for him until his killing was reported by Haaretz. “My family and I were waiting for any news, praying day and night for his release,” his daughter, Dina said.
Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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KAMAL ADWAN ATTACKED
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While Dr. Rantisi was missing, Israeli forces attacked Kamal Adwan Hospital.

December 12, 2023 - Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan after holding it under siege. They detained over 70 medical staff and took them to unknown locations.
On December 12, 2023, Al Jazeera reported, "Israeli forces have raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, after besieging and shelling it for several days..." CNN reported that Dr. Hossam Abu-Safia, head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, reported "more than 70 medical staff were 'arrested and taken to an unknown area.'"Al Jazeera2024
Israeli forces raid Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital after days of strikes
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/12/israeli-forces-raid-gazas-kamal-adwan-hospital-after-days-of-strikes
October 24, 2024
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“When they took us out of the hospital, they told us to undress and stay in our underwear.” –Surgeon, Kamal Adwan Hospital
A surgeon at Kamal Adwan testified to Human Rights Watch that "the soldier on the microphone ordered men and boys over 15 years old to evacuate the hospital.... When they took us out of the hospital, they told us to undress and stay in our underwear.”
Human Rights Watch
2024
Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
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https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured
October 24, 2024
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May 20, 2023 - Israeli forces surrounded Kamal Adwan hospital, shelling, bombing, and cutting off access to the area. Multiple Israeli missiles struck the emergency department.
Reuters reported on Israeli missile strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital. The same articel reports "WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that Al-Awda Hospital, also in northern Gaza, had been under siege since Sunday, with 148 hospital staff and 22 patients and the people accompanying them trapped inside."
Reuters2024
Panicked Gaza hospital staff evacuate patients after missile strike, video shows
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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/panicked-gaza-hospital-staff-evacuate-patients-after-missile-strike-video-shows-2024-05-21/
October 24, 2024
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KILLING REPORTED
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On June 18, 2024, after the gag order expired, Dr. Rantisi’s family and colleagues learned the news of his killing from an Israeli paper. His body remains in Israeli custody.The linked article, dated June 18, 2024, was the first to report on Dr. Rantisi's death in Israeli custody. The caption of a photo in the article notes "Dr. Iyad Rantisi, who body is still being held by Israel." His family also spoke to Middle East Eye about the fact that Dr. Rantisi's body has not been returned to them. Haaretz2024
Israel Arrested a Senior Doctor in Gaza. Six Days Later, He Died in a Shin Bet Interrogation Facility
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https://archive.ph/g8oLU
October 24, 2024
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Middle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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“How can a doctor go from carrying out a humanitarian mission to being detained and then killed?” –Dina, daughter of Dr. RantisiQuoted in Middle East EyeMiddle East Eye2024
Israeli officers tortured this doctor to death, then hid the news for months
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-family-mourns-doctor-tortured-death-israeli-forces
October 24, 2024
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SYSTEMATIC TORTURE
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At least two other Palestinian doctors have been killed in Israel’s torture camps. See cases of Dr. Adnan Al Bursh and Dr. Ziad Eldalou below.
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Dr. Adnan Al Bursh, orthopedic surgeon, abducted while treating patients at Al-Awda Hospital"Dr. Adnan Al Bursh, 50, the head of the orthopaedic department at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, died on April 19, 2024, in Ofer prison, a detention facility in the West Bank. His body has not yet been released by Israeli authorities. Dr. Al Bursh had been detained with other doctors and medical personnel by Israeli forces on 18 December 2023, at Al Awda Hospital in North Gaza. At that time, he was generally in good health and was performing his duties normally. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, said...'He was detained while undertaking his duty to patients and caring for them according to the oath he took as a medical practitioner … he died for trying to protect the rights to life and health of his patients.'"
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Dr. Ziad Eldalou, internal medicine, abducted while treating patients at Al-Shifa Hospital"A UN expert today condemned the death of a third physician from Gaza while in Israeli custody and renewed calls for the protection of healthcare workers in the occupied Palestinian territory...Eldalou was an internal medicine physician at Al Shifa Hospital, located in Gaza City. He was detained along with other healthcare workers, while on duty at Al Shifa Hospital on 18 March 2024, during a raid by Israeli Forces. He reportedly died on 21 March 2024 while in detention."United Nations2024
UN expert shocked by death of another Palestinian doctor in Israeli detention
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https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/un-expert-shocked-death-another-palestinian-doctor-israeli-detention
October 24, 2024
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HEALTHCARE DISMANTLED
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Israeli attacks on Palestinian health workers and health facilities have brought about the collapse of Gaza’s health system.Numerous reports throughout a year of Israeli genocide have described Gaza's health system as at a point of collapse as a result of systemic Israeli attacks on health facilities and health workers. United Nations2024
Gaza health system collapsing, as UN agencies renew ceasefire call
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https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145632
October 24, 2024
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"The Israeli military’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza have decimated its health care system in a way that aid groups and international bodies are increasingly calling 'systematic.'"New York Times2024
Israel’s Military Campaign Has Left Gaza’s Medical System Near Collapse
https://archive.ph/F2Hf8#selection-491.0-491.182
October 24, 2024
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1,151+ medical workers killed (by Sept. 2024)"Israeli forces have killed 1,151 Palestinians working in Gaza’s health sector during its onslaught on the enclave...At least 165 of those killed were doctors, 260 nurses, 300 management and support personnel, 184 health associate professionals, 76 pharmacists and 12 other health workers."
Palestinian Ministry of Health reported in Middle East Eye
2024
UN expert shocked by death of another Palestinian doctor in Israeli detention
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/nearly-1000-palestinian-health-workers-killed-israeli-forces-gaza-named
October 24, 2024
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310 health workers abducted (by Jun. 2024)"The Gaza Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces have detained at least 310 Palestinian healthcare workers since October 7. Healthcare Workers Watch-Palestine, a nongovernmental organization, documented 259 detentions of healthcare workers and collected 31 accounts describing torture and other abuses by Israeli authorities, including the use of stress positions, deprivation of adequate food and water, threats of sexual violence and rape, and degrading treatment."
Human Rights Watch
2024
Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
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https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured
October 24, 2024
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32 hospitals attacked (by Sept. 2024)See section titled "health attacks"
World Heatlh Organization
2024
oPt Emergency Situation Update, Issue 46
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https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/Sitrep_46b.pdf
October 24, 2024
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