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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026<\/p>\n
A group of six progressive Congress members in the United States have released a statement condemning Israel\u2019s abuse of Palestinian healthcare workers, including the Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia<\/a>, who has been held in Israeli detention since 2024.<\/p>\n The Tuesday statement draws attention to Israeli attacks on Palestinian medical workers, who have been targeted and detained<\/a> during the country\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n It was signed by Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Jesus \u201cChuy\u201d Garcia, Summer Lee, Pramila Jayapal and Delia Ramirez.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the last three years, the Israeli government has systematically destroyed the health system<\/a> in Palestine, murdering at least 1,700 Palestinian doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare workers and destroying dozens of hospitals,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has arrested and arbitrarily detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers, including at least 16 physicians who continue to be held in inhumane conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Among those detained is Abu Safia<\/a>, who lawyers say was subjected to abuses such as torture, sleep deprivation and beatings during his detention.<\/p>\n Israeli soldiers arrested Abu Safia in December 2024, after he and other medical workers reportedly refused to evacuate from Kamal Adwan Hospital, where they worked.<\/p>\n No charges have been filed against Abu Safia, and he has not had a trial.<\/p>\n Israeli attacks on health infrastructure in Gaza, including the destruction of nearly all of the strip\u2019s hospitals and medical centres, are one component of what rights groups have depicted as an effort to deprive Palestinians of essential services such as food, water and medical treatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s statement argues that such efforts are part of an \u201cintentional policy designed to further occupation, apartheid, and genocide against the Palestinian people\u201d.<\/p>\n That assessment is shared by a growing number of rights organisations, scholars and United Nations officials, who have denounced Israeli actions in the Palestinian strip.<\/p>\n Israeli officials have stated that they target hospitals and medical facilities as part of an effort to attack the Palestinian armed groups that allegedly use such facilities to carry out and coordinate operations.<\/p>\n Such claims have often failed to withstand scrutiny. Israel admitted that its soldiers killed a group of 15 emergency workers<\/a> in southern Gaza in March 2025, after initially stating that the ambulance convoy had approached soldiers \u201csuspiciously\u201d and claiming, without evidence, that several of those killed were linked to Hamas.<\/p>\n