News- Middle East: A prisoners’ rights group has reported that Israeli authorities are continuing to detain two dozen doctors from the besieged Gaza Strip under extremely dire humanitarian conditions.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Advocacy condemned what it described as the most heinous, systematic, and deliberate abuse inflicted on the detained medical professionals by Israel.

The systematic abuse and torture, it said, have resulted in the deaths of two physicians in Israeli custody, Dr. Adnan al-Barsh and Dr. Iyad al-Rantisi.

It noted that reports issued by the United Nations and human rights organizations have documented the exposure of health care workers to torture, violence, and psychological abuse during detention.

The center called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to work urgently and diligently to ensure the immediate release of Palestinian doctors from Israeli prisons.

The center said it had obtained data indicating that more than 400 Palestinian doctors, nurses, administrators, and technicians were arrested between October 2023 and July 2025.

A number of them were released in prisoner exchange deals or at other times, while no indictments were filed against them.

Gaza is enduring a severe humanitarian catastrophe amid Israel’s 22-month-long genocidal war on the besieged territory.

Israel’s attacks on hospitals and the medical staff, as well as its siege on the entry of medical supplies, are meant to systematically dismantle the healthcare system of the Palestinian territory.

More than 80 percent of hospitals in Gaza are now either partially or completely out of service.

In recent weeks, WHO has repeatedly warned that the intensified Israeli ground offensive, aerial bombardments, and new evacuation orders are stretching Gaza's health system beyond breaking point.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials recorded five new deaths due to famine and malnutrition on Sunday. Total starvation-related deaths stand at 180, including 93 children. 

Israel started its genocidal campaign on October 7, 2023, but the regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives in Gaza despite killing nearly 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Rights groups have condemned the Israeli blockade on vital supplies as a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation of international law.

Source: Press TV