https://arab.news/wwkjt
- Patients are kept shackled to hospital beds, blindfolded, naked, forced to wear diapers
- Probe recalls report alleging violation of detainees鈥� health rights as act of revenge
LONDON: A BBC investigation has revealed that Palestinian detainees from Gaza are 鈥渞outinely tortured鈥� in Israeli hospitals.
According to medical workers and whistleblowers interviewed by the broadcaster, detainees are kept shackled to hospital beds, blindfolded, sometimes naked, and forced to wear diapers.
Some in need of surgery and other medical procedures are denied painkillers, causing 鈥渁n unacceptable amount of pain.鈥�
Testimonies indicated that critically-ill patients held in makeshift military facilities are denied proper treatment due to public hospitals鈥� reluctance to transfer and treat them.
The Israeli army has denied the allegations, asserting that detainees at the facility in question were treated 鈥渁ppropriately and carefully.鈥�
Yossi Walfisch, the head of the country鈥檚 Medical Ethics Board, said in a letter: 鈥淭errorists are given proper medical treatment with the aim of keeping restraints to a minimum, and while maintaining the safety of the treating staff.鈥�
The investigation detailed various episodes of mistreatment, which were described in some testimonies as 鈥渁 deliberate act of revenge.鈥�
In one instance, a detainee had his leg amputated after being denied treatment for an infected wound.
In another, a doctor refused to administer painkillers to an elderly patient while treating an infected amputation wound.
Senior anesthesiologist Yoel Donchin confirmed that patients at Sde Teiman hospital were kept blindfolded and permanently shackled to their beds, while forced to wear diapers instead of being allowed to use toilets.
Donchin argued that the practice could cause long-term nerve damage and admitted to performing surgical procedures on handcuffed patients due to a lack of alternatives.
Despite complaints from medical staff, only minor changes have been implemented.
An army spokesperson said that violence against detainees was 鈥渁bsolutely prohibited鈥� and promised to investigate the allegations.
The revelations recall a report in February by Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which described Israel鈥檚 civilian and military prisons as 鈥渁n apparatus of retribution and revenge,鈥� violating detainees鈥� human rights, particularly their right to health.
In March, following a similar BBC investigation into alleged abuse and torture by the Israeli army at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the UK government called for an 鈥渋nvestigation and explanation鈥� into the allegations.
keywords