Palestinian surgeon was assaulted before dying in Israeli detention, reports say
The Sde Teiman base where Gazan detainees are held
Elisabeth Mahase reports in The BMJ on 28 November 2024:
The Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked has claimed it has evidence that the prominent Palestinian orthopaedic surgeon Adnan Al-Bursh was beaten and assaulted before his death in Israeli detention in April.
In May the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that Al-Bursh, who trained at King’s College London and was the head of orthopaedic medicine at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, had died in prison, four months after being detained while working at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. The IDF did not provide details of the cause of death, although Al-Bursh’s family said at the time that they believed he was tortured to death.1
HaMoked has now said it has a deposition from a fellow prisoner, who previously knew Al-Bursh in Gaza, detailing the final moments leading up to the surgeon’s death. The deposition, seen by Sky News, stated that Al-Bursh arrived at Section 23 in Ofer Prison in a “deplorable state,” having “clearly been assaulted with injuries around his body.” It said he was also “naked in the lower part of his body.”2
The deposition read, “The prison guards threw him in the middle of the yard and left him there. Dr Adnan Al-Bursh was unable to stand up. One of the prisoners helped him and accompanied him to one of the rooms. A few minutes later, prisoners were heard screaming from the room they went into, declaring Dr Adnan Al-Bursh [was dead].”
Before being taken to Ofer Prison, Al-Bursh was reportedly held in Sde Teiman detention centre. Khalid Hamouda, a fellow doctor also being detained there, told Sky News that Al-Bursh had been badly beaten. “He thought he may have broken ribs . . . He was unable to even go to the toilet alone,” he said.
In response to the reports Israel’s prison service told The BMJ that “all prisoners are detained according to the law” and “all basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards.”
A spokesperson said, “We are not aware of the claims you described, and as far as we know no such events have occurred under IPS responsibility. “Nonetheless, prisoners, detainees, or their representatives have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined and addressed by official authorities.”
The IDF did not provide a comment.
Three doctors killed in detention
As at 24 September three Palestinian doctors have been confirmed to have died while in Israeli detention, including the internal medicine doctor Ziad Eldalou, who died on 21 March, after being detained during an Israeli raid of Al-Shifa Hospital on 18 March alongside many other staff. The World Health Organization said that at least 128 healthcare workers remained in custody after being arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces while on duty. However, this number is now likely to be higher, after the detention of dozens of male staff members from Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza last month.3
One of the doctors detained was the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) orthopaedic surgeon Mohammed Obeid, who was “detained by Israeli forces along with several medical staff” at Kamal Adwan Hospital on 26 October. Obeid had worked previously alongside his colleague and friend Al-Bursh at Al-Awda Hospital. Speaking to Sky News recently, Obeid recalled the moment that they were told they had to leave the hospital under an alleged threat by Israeli forces that they would otherwise destroy it “with all the women and children in it.”
Both MSF and The BMJ have requested information on Obeid’s status, location, and health, but no details have been provided.
A colleague remembers Al-Bursh: “Always smiling, positive, and keen to be involved”
Graeme Groom, orthopaedic surgeon at King’s College Hospital, London, told The BMJ about his friend and colleague Adnan Al-Bursh, whom he first met while working in Gaza.
“I think a great deal about Adnan, and now about our wonderful colleague Mohammed Obeid. We fear that he is following the same path and may also be killed in prison in Israel.
“I first met Adnan in 2009. He had just returned from a training programme in Jordan. He was full of life and energy. We were then contemplating how we might support the development of a service in Gaza for the most severely wounded patients. Adnan was recommended to us. He and I had an extended interview in which I learnt a great deal about him.
“He subsequently came to King’s College Hospital in London for six months in 2013, funded by a grant from the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) which itself was then fully funded by the Department for International Development. We got to know him well. He was a lovely fellow, always smiling, positive, and keen to be involved. He immersed himself in all aspects of our professional life while exploring every nook and cranny of London. He was welcomed into our homes. He sat at our tables. He loved it here.
“But most of all, he loved his family. He spoke to them every day. At night, when he was asleep, he left the camera on. His family could see him while he slept.