Prominent Gaza surgeon Adnan Al-Bursh dies in Israeli prison

Ahram Online , Friday 3 May 2024

The head of orthopaedics at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Adnan Al-Bursh was killed in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations announced.

 Adnan Al-Bursh
Palestinian doctor Adnan Al-Bursh. Photo: Twitter

 

The associations said in a joint statement that the senior Palestinian doctor, has been "assassinated," and that his body remained in Israeli custody.

Al-Bursh, 50, had been detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada Hospital in north Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said he was "martyred under torture inside Israeli occupation prisons."

 

on 19 April, the Israeli prison service stated that a prisoner detained for national security reasons had died in Ofer prison, giving no detail on the cause of death.

A prison service spokesperson confirmed that the statement referred to Bursh, and said the incident was being investigated, Reuters reported.

Another Palestinian, Ismail Abdel-Bari Rajab Khudair, 33, also died in Israeli detention.

The two new deaths bring the toll of Gazans who died in Israeli custody to at least 18 since the start of the war, the prisoners' associations said, urging Israeli authorities to disclose the number, location and fate of detainees from Gaza. 

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli authorities released 64 Palestinians they had kidnapped during their attack on Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Karm Abu Salem crossing.

Dozens of Palestinians who had been freed by Israel in past months including some staff of the UNRWA have reported torture, sexual abuse, and deprivation of food and sleep during detention.

The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency has documented the release of 1,506 people detained by the Israeli authorities through the crossing as of 4 April.

 

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