Gaza’s Physicians in the Grip of Occupation
Israeli forces continue to detain Palestinian medical workers from Gaza, with the latest arrests targeting a prominent health official and his daughter in what human rights groups call a systematic campaign against healthcare providers.
Dr. Marwan Shafiq Ali Al-Hams, 53, Director of Field Hospitals in Gaza and spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, was seized by Israeli special forces on July 21, 2025, while on a medical mission at the Red Cross Hospital west of Khan Younis. More than two months later, on October 2, authorities arrested his 24-year-old daughter Tasneem, a nurse, while she was heading to work at a medical facility in Khan Younis.
The arrest operation that captured Dr. Al-Hams left two civilians dead, including a journalist, and his driver wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on his vehicle near the Al-Mawasi area south of Khan Younis. He has been held at an undisclosed location since July.
Born May 21, 1972, in the Yibna refugee camp in Rafah, Al-Hams comes from a family originally displaced from the town of Yibna in 1948. He is one of thirteen siblings. After completing secondary school in Rafah, he studied medicine in Russia, graduating from Saratov University in 1998. He earned a diploma in Anesthesia and Intensive Care from the Islamic University of Gaza in 2003.
Al-Hams worked with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Merciful Hands Association before joining the Ministry of Health in 2004. He served as director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Martyrs Hospital in Rafah before becoming Director of Field Hospitals. Since October 7, 2023, he became a prominent media voice documenting conditions in Gaza’s hospitals, earning him recognition as the “Voice of the Patients and the Starving.”
His daughter Tasneem was reportedly detained by members of a militia led by Yasser Abu Shabbab before being transferred to Israeli custody. The Ministry of Health has condemned her arrest as a violation of international protections for medical personnel. Human rights organizations warn she may face torture or be used to pressure her father.
The arrests are part of a broader pattern. According to the Prisoners’ Media Office, 24 physicians from Gaza are currently detained by Israeli authorities:
- Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya
- Dr. Amir Al-Tayan
- Dr. Ahmad Mousa
- Dr. Mo’nes Mohsen
- Dr. Ahmad Muhanna
- Dr. Abdullah Abu Al-Jedyan
- Dr. Ghassan Abu Zuhri
- Dr. Akram Abu Odeh
- Dr. Bilal Al-Masri
- Dr. Hassan Al-Muqayyad
- Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa
- Dr. Khalid Sayyam
- Dr. Issam Radwan
- Dr. Mohammad Hammouda
- Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hallaq
- Dr. Raed Mahdi
- Dr. Nahed Abu Taeima
- Dr. Awni Jawana
- Dr. Mohammad Abu Obeid
- Dr. Ahmad Shehadeh
- Dr. Musab Saman
- Dr. Hamza Abu Sobha
- Dr. Midhat Abu Tabanja
- Dr. Marwan Al-Hams
Two physicians have died in Israeli custody. Dr. Adnan al-Bursh died on April 19, 2025, at Ofer Prison after being detained while working at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. His body has not been returned. Dr. Iyad Al-Rantisi, Head of Obstetrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, died in November 2024 at an Israeli interrogation center in Ashkelon, one week after his arrest.
The Prisoners’ Media Office has called on the World Health Organization, International Committee of the Red Cross, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Arab Medical Union, and international medical organizations to intervene for the immediate release of detained medical personnel, investigate the deaths of Al-Bursh and Al-Rantisi, pursue legal accountability for torture of medical workers, and ensure healthcare and legal protections for detainees under International Humanitarian Law.
The detention of medical personnel violates international law, which protects healthcare workers and requires their neutrality in conflict zones. The arrests of Dr. Al-Hams and his daughter, along with the deaths of Al-Bursh and Al-Rantisi in custody, represent what Palestinian officials describe as an Israeli policy aimed at undermining Gaza’s healthcare system and denying Palestinians access to medical treatment.
