Gaza medics tell BBC that Israeli troops beat and humiliated them

Ahmed Abu Sabha, a doctor at Nasser hospital, described being held for a week in detention. He said muzzled dogs were set upon him and his hand was broken by an Israeli soldier. Two other medics wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. They told the BBC they were humiliated, beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours.

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’s emergency building, kneeling with their hands behind their heads. Hamas has denied that its fighters operate inside medical facilities. The IDF told the BBC: “As a rule, during the arrest process, it is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched.

Clothes are not immediately returned to the detainees, due to the suspicion they may conceal means that can be used for hostile purposes” Dr Abu Sabha, the 26-year-old newly qualified doctor and volunteer medic at Nasser, described some elements of his treatment while in detention as torture. He said other punishments given to detainees included being made to lie on their stomach for prolonged periods and delaying their meals. Detainees are given back their clothes when it’s possible to do so. The BBC has been speaking to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and displaced people camping in the courtyard.

We have cross-checked details in these accounts. We were given the names of 49 Nasser medical personnel said to have been detained. The fact that they treat nationals of the enemy side should not in any way undermine their protection, he said. Three medics who say they were detained and later released have not given their accounts publicly before.

Of those, 26 were named by multiple sources, including medics on the ground, the Hamas-run health ministry, international groups, and the families of those missing. Five other medics at the hospital have told the BBC their loved ones are missing. Red Cross confirms it has received dozens of phone calls from people who say family members, including medics, are now missing. Medics who remained at Nasser say the operation at the hospital left them unable to care for patients.

Without painkillers, we leave patients to scream for hours’ says one medic. When the IDF took control, nearly 200 patients were being treated there. Many of them were bedridden, including six inside the ICU. Those staff allowed to remain described being ordered to move seriously ill patients between buildings.

They were also taken away from their duties to be interrogated, and assigned patients they were not trained to deal with. World Health Organization said the hospital was short of food and basic medical supplies, and had ceased to function. The remaining patients were sent to other hospitals around Gaza and the medical staff who worked there left shortly afterwards. A doctor shared photos of bodies in bags on beds that we have confirmed were taken in a ward at the hospital.

Dr Abu Sabha said he was initially picked to stay with patients after the raid. He was later taken to Mubarak, which he said had become a torture place. Soldiers beat them with sticks, hoses, rifle butts and fists, they said. All three of the detainees the BBC spoke to said they were crammed onto military vehicles.

Dr Abu Sabha said that during the journey, soldiers took the detainees out of the vehicle. One said that instead of getting treatment for an injury, an IDF soldier hit him where he was injured. The two other released detainees said that at some stage they were given medical checks but no medication. He was beaten and had muzzled dogs set on him, he said.

The day after, an Israeli doctor fitted him with a cast and then soldiers drew a Star of David on it, he says. At one point, the blindfold moved down a bit and my hands were handcuffed from behind and I could not fix it. They took me out for punishment… Dr Abu Sabha had an X-ray and sought treatment for a broken hand at a field hospital in Gaza. He arrived there in a cast with a Star of David drawn on it.

This cast was later changed by a doctor in Gaza and Ahmed was wearing a cast during his interview. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 31,000 people have been killed. Israeli officials have said at least 30 of them are dead. One of the released detainees said that two days after being interrogated, IDF officers told him there was no evidence and he would be released.

Dr Abu Sabha told the BBC he was never interrogated during his eight days of detention. The three medics we spoke to say they were transported back to Gaza blindfolded after their release. The BBC has confirmed Dr Abu Sabha’s account that he crossed back into Gaza at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. They have described being kept in small rooms and being forced to knock if they needed to go to the toilet.

One released hostage said her husband - who remains in Gaza - was covered in a sheet to look like a corpse. She said he was forced to wear the sheet to make him look ’like a corpse’ ICRC says it has not been able to visit any detainees since 7 October. It is ‘deeply concerned’ by reports of arrests and ongoing detention of medics. An internal UN report seen by the BBC has described widespread abuse of Palestinians who have been captured and interrogated at makeshift Israeli detention centres.

Some patients had been detained during the raid, according to Dr Hout. The IDF has previously denied specific allegations in the UN report, including the denial of access to water, medical care and bedding. In separate footage published by the IDF, people can be seen lying on beds in the hospital grounds with their hands zip-tied. Multiple medics said that the IDF would not grant them permission to bury or even move the bodies of patients who died.

The bodies remained inside with staff and patients as they began to decompose. The IDF said: “We emphasize that the hands of patients not suspected of involvement in terrorism were not tied” Dr Rabaa was one of a small group of medics chosen to remain with patients. He said that he too had been stripped to his underwear and made to kneel in front of the emergency department. But he was then led away to the building where patients were kept.

They said they had operated in a “precise and focused manner, creating minimal damage to the hospital. They said that many weapons were found, as well as closed medicines intended for Israeli hostages. The operation was carried out without harming the patients or the medical staff.

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