Palestinian paramedic detained in Gaza dies in Israeli prison

A Palestinian paramedic from Gaza has died while in Israeli detention amid reports of torture and medical negligence.

Hatem Ismail Rayyan, a 59-year-old paramedic, was pronounced dead at the Negev prison, a press statement from the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced on Thursday evening.

Rayyan was detained by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024 from the premises of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, alongside his injured son Moaz Rayyan who remains in Israeli detention.

The hospital had been under siege by the Israeli military and then was forcibly closed by Israeli authorities after they stormed the premises at the end of December. Israel set the facilities on fire, forcibly removing and arresting dozens of patients and staff.

At the time, Kamal Adwan Hospital had been the last major functioning medical facility serving northern Gaza.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, was detained on the same day as Rayyan.

According to his family, Rayyan had suffered a stroke shortly before his detention, yet chose to continue delivering medical assistance until his detention.

The two Palestinian organisations that announced his death said they hold Israel "fully responsible" for what happened to him, renewing calls for international human rights organisations to investigate mounting evidence of torture and abuse at the hands of Israeli authorities.

Dr. Muneer Alboursh, the director of Gaza’s health ministry, condemned Rayyan’s death and said, "Prisons have become another arena of suffering, marked by allegations of torture, starvation, medical neglect, and prolonged detention without trial".

Israeli prison authorities have not issued an official statement detailing the circumstances around his death.

Rayyan is the third medical officer to have died in Israeli detention.

At least 88 Palestinian detainees have died since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, 52 of whom were arrested in Gaza.

Mounting evidence of torture and violations

Human rights organisations have raised concerns over signs of torture seen on prisoners’ bodies after they were returned to Gaza by Israel during prisoner exchanges. Dozens of other bodies of deceased detainees are still being withheld by Israeli authorities.

Israeli NGO B'Tselem says many detention facilities have turned into "torture camps" with Palestinians subjected to sexual, physical and psychological abuse, inhuman detention conditions, deliberate starvation and denial of medical care.

At least 325 Palestinian detainees have died since 1967, not including the toll among prisoners reported to have been killed in the field, something which groups like the PPS argue amount to conclusive evidence of systematic field executions.

Rayyan’s death comes amid accelerated efforts by the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for a bill formalising the execution of Palestinian detainees.

The bill mandates the death penalty for prisoners convicted of murder on crimes that Israel defines as having a "terrorist motivation" as part of a legal framework that applies exclusively to Palestinians.

More than 9,300 prisoners are currently being held in Israeli prisons, an estimated 50% of whom are currently held without trial, either under arbitrary administrative detention orders or under the classification of being so-called "unlawful combatants".