Four Palestinian doctors from Gaza detained in Israeli prisons say they are enduring severe hunger and deteriorating detention conditions, with one describing the situation as “catastrophic,” according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, after a prison visit this week.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said in a Tuesday statement that one of its lawyers visited the four detainees at the Negev Prison in southern Israel on May 11.
The organization identified the detainees as Dr. Mohammed Obeid, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Dr. Murad al-Qouqa, and Dr. Akram Abu Ouda.
The four doctors have been held for extended periods without being charged, the statement added.
According to the group, the detainees confirmed that prison conditions had not improved, including the quantity and quality of food provided to them, which they described as "dangerously insufficient.”
The doctors also reported the spread of scabies among detainees amid a lack of treatment and inadequate medical response to illnesses.
The organization said the four doctors appeared before Israeli courts in recent months, which repeatedly extended their detention without charges or legal representation.
The detainees described their prison conditions as "catastrophic from both humanitarian and health perspectives,” according to the statement.
Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was arrested on Dec. 27, 2024, after the Israeli army raided the facility and forced him out at gunpoint after destroying the complex and putting it out of service.
The Israeli army has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 172,000 others in a two-year genocide on Gaza since October 2023. Thousands of Palestinians were detained during the assault
