Gaza medics reveal abuse after Israeli hospital raid: Report

Palestinian medical personnel in the war-torn Gaza Strip have been subjected to severe maltreatment, including being blindfolded, stripped and repeatedly beaten, after an Israeli raid at a hospital last month, a BBC report said on March 12.

With several medical staff reporting the Israeli abuse to the BBC, Ahmed Abu Sabha, a doctor at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, recounted being held for a week, enduring attacks including being bitten by muzzled dogs and having his hand broken by an Israeli soldier.

Similar accounts were shared by two other medics who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation.

The report noted that medical staff described being humiliated, beaten and subjected to other forms of abuse during their detention. Upon being provided with details of these allegations, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not directly address them but stated that medical staff were not harmed during their operation.

They said that "any abuse of detainees is contrary to IDF orders and is therefore strictly prohibited," according to the report.

Israel's army on Feb. 15 raided the hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, which was one of the few in the strip still functioning, saying intelligence indicated that the hospital housed Hamas operatives.

Footage captured covertly within the hospital on the day the medical staff were detained was shared with the BBC. The footage depicts a line of men stripped down to their underwear outside the hospital's emergency building, kneeling with hands behind their heads. Some of them had medical robes in front of them.

Dr. Atef Al-Hout, the hospital's general manager, informed the BBC that anyone who attempted to move or make any gestures was subjected to...