A second physician from Gaza has died while in Israeli custody. The body of Dr. Iyad Rantisi is still being held in Israel while his family is left without any answers about the cause of his death which happened seven months ago.
By Talia Mullin / Original to ScheerPost
According to a report from Haaretz, Shin Bet Israeli intelligence officers arrested a doctor in Gaza on Nov. 11, 2023 and interrogated him for suspicion of holding Israeli hostages. Six days following the arrest of 53-year-old Dr. Iyad Rantisi, he was reported dead at the Shin Bet interrogation facility in Shakima Prison.
Following his death, the Israeli Justice Ministry issued a probe which investigated complaints against Shin Bet interrogators. The Justice Ministry said they had concluded their investigation into Rantisi’s death but have yet to reveal their findings. A six-month gag order—that expired in May—was issued by the Ashkelon Magistrate’s court which prevented all details from the case being published—including the gag order.
Dr. Husam Abu Safia, manager of the Kamal Adwan hospital, spoke with Haaretz:
“Neither he nor Rantisi’s family received any information about his fate. …Rantisi was detained at an army checkpoint while attempting to cross from north to south Gaza, following the Israeli military’s orders for the civilian population to evacuate at the beginning of the war. …Rantisi was detained by the military and never heard from since, and that the fact that his whereabouts are unknown made them worried that he died in custody and his body is being held in Israel.”
Rantisi was the director of the women’s section of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza strip and is the second Gazan doctor to have died in Israeli custody. The first was Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, the lead surgeon in the orthopedic department in Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Al-Bursh was arrested in Khan Yunis in December and died April 19 in Ofer Prison in the West Bank.
Although months have passed since al-Bursh and Rantisi’s deaths, Israeli authorities have not provided any explanation of their deaths.
Israeli prisons are known for their brutal treatment of inmates which inclues the use of torture, humiliation, denial of medical care and overcrowding. In Dec. 2023, Thaer Abu Assab, a Palestinian prisoner in Negev prison, was brutally beaten with metal rods and left lying on the floor after asking guards if there had been a ceasefire agreement.
His cell mates—though afraid to request medical help—could not continue to watch him suffer and yelled for help until a nurse came and took Abu Assab from the cell. Those who called for help were later also beaten with metal poles. Two days later, they were told of Abu Assab’s death.
Other prisoners, such as Mohamed Sahwil, have left detention centers having lost significant weight. Sahwil was held for six months without charge, lost 38kg (83.7lbs) and could hardly stand on his own upon his release. Munther Amira, another prisoner, lost 33kg (77lbs) over his three month administrative detention and described to Haaretz the horror and humiliation he suffered at Ofer Prison, the same facility where Dr. Adnan al-Bursh died in April.
Monika Pronczuk and Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times reported on a UNRWA document detailing the abuse of Gazan detainees by Israeli authorities. They write:
“The report said the detainees included males and females whose ages ranged from 6 to 82. Some, the report said, died in detention.
The document includes accounts from detainees who said they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused and denied access to lawyers and doctors, often for more than a month.”
Currently, the Israeli Army is conducting 48 criminal investigations into the deaths of detainees, some of which show evidence of violence before death and medical neglect.
The interrogation methods of the Shin Bet have long been considered torture, yet only two criminal investigations surrounding interrogation methods have taken place between July 2014 and July 2022.
The first case involved Samer Arbid, who was hospitalized in critical condition following interrogation by the Shin Bet. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence. The second, also closed for lack of evidence, concerned a 2015 search of a Palestinian’s genitals. The officer who ordered the search has recently been promoted.
Dr. Adnan al-Bursh’s family awaits the results of his autopsy, Iyad Rantisi’s family awaits any further information about his death and both families await the release of their bodies.
Hagar Shezaf, Josh Breiner, and Jack Khoury of Haaretz write:
“In a statement, the Shin Bet confirmed the details of Rantisi’s arrest and said he died in the detention center’s infirmary November 17, 2023. ‘The relevant authorities are reviewing the circumstances of his death,’ the agency added.
“The Justice Ministry said in a statement that the unit that investigates complaints against Shin Bet agency opened a probe immediately after Rantisi’s death, ‘during which various measures were taken to clarify its circumstances. The investigation ended recently and its findings are under review.’”
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Talia Mullin
Talia Mullin a student at the University of Southern California studying Communication, Spanish, and International Relations. She is a staff writer for Scheer Post.
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Originally Published: 2024-06-21 08:25:36
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