Report reveals Israeli abuse of Gazan detainees in hospital

ISTANBUL

Health professionals in Israel have reported to the BBC that Palestinian detainees from Gaza are frequently restrained to hospital beds, sometimes naked and in nappies, which they consider tantamount to torture.

According to a report published on May 21, whistle-blowers revealed instances of medical procedures without pain relief, selective use of painkillers and inadequate treatment for critically ill patients who were taken from the war-torn Gaza Strip.

BBC said that the Israeli army denies any mistreatment, but allegations are supported by a report from Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, which said that Israel’s civilian and military prisons had become “an apparatus of retribution and revenge” and that detainees’ human rights were being violated.

In the report, concerns focus on a military field hospital, at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel, where detainees are blindfolded, shackled and made to wear nappies. The army claims restraints are based on security assessments, and nappies are used for post-procedure care. The field hospital was established by the Israeli Health Ministry to treat Gazan detainees.

A detainee, taken from Gaza for questioning by the Israeli army and later released, told the BBC his leg had to be amputated because he was denied treatment for an infected wound.

A senior doctor at the military hospital where the amputation allegedly occurred denied direct responsibility but acknowledged the dehumanizing use of shackles and restraints by guards.

Last week a CNN report also reported that Palestinian prisoners are blindfolded, beaten and put in diapers.

The U.S.-based network said it spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers at the Sde Teiman base in the Negev desert.

The CNN report said the camp had about 70 prisoners under extreme restraint as well as a field hospital, where some wounded detainees were strapped to beds wearing diapers and fed through straws.

The United States had voiced concern and called on Israel to investigate the claims.