BBC report into treatment of Gaza medics ‘very disturbing’ - Cameron

Three medical staff told the BBC they were humiliated, beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel for hours. David Cameron has said the BBC report about Palestinian medical staff in Gaza being beaten and humiliated by Israeli troops is ‘very disturbing’ The foreign secretary called for an explanation from the Israelis. Lord Cameron tells the House of Lords: #34;These are very disturbing pictures and reports that have come out from this hospital. We need to get to the bottom of what exactly happened and we need answers from the Israelis about that.

39;Israel said any abuse of detainees is strictly prohibited. Mr Mitchell was responding to a question from the shadow international development secretary, Lisa Nandy. The Foreign Office is pressing for full transparency and accountability in that matter, he said. Mr Mitchell said a #34;full explanation.

was needed for the report to be published. Mr Mitchell said there were lawyers embedded in the Israeli and IDF command that should ensure the #34;acceptance and honouring of international humanitarian law is kept. Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh said Mr Mitchell#39;s response was ‘simply not good enough’ The report relates to an IDF raid on the Nasser hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis on 15 February. The Israel Defense Forces said intelligence indicated that the hospital housed Hamas operatives.

They also said Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October had been held there - and some of the hostages themselves have publicly said they were kept there. Footage secretly filmed in the hospital on 16 February, the day the medics were detained, was shared with the BBC. It shows a row of men stripped to their underwear in front of the hospital#39;s emergency building, kneeling with their hands behind their heads. Hamas has denied that its fighters operate inside medical facilities.

US State Department says it has not raised the case with the Israeli government. It says any abuse of detainees is contrary to IDF orders and is therefore strictly prohibited. The BBC has been speaking to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and displaced people camping in the courtyard for several weeks. Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people.

More than 31,180 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says. Of those, 26 were named by multiple sources, including medics on the ground and international groups.

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