Gaza Al Shifa Hospital Director Freed After 7 Months in Prison Without Trial, Admits Got Tortured by Israeli Doctors

The Israeli military detained Gazan civilians, Palestinians. (doc. Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - Director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya accused Israel of mistreating Palestinian prisoners. He said this after being released after 7 months of imprisonment without trial by the Israeli military.

"When you seek treatment, you are tortured by nurses and doctors [medical personnel], and this is against international conventions," he told NBC News in Gaza, Palestine, Tuesday, July 2, Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

Salmiya was released along with 54 other Palestinians by the Israeli military. Many of them wore gray prisoner uniforms when they were released.

When with family and colleagues who welcomed his return, Salmiya admitted that what he and other Palestinian prisoners experienced showed the decline of Israel's treatment of prisoners.

"We have left the [other] prisoners in a very difficult situation. What the prisoners experienced has never happened in the history of prisons," Salmiya said.

In a separate statement from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Salmiya said the Palestinian prisoners were being abused and insulted. They were also starving and deprived of water.

Meanwhile, the Israel Prison Service authorities when asked about this refused to comment. The Israeli prison spokesman claimed that they had implemented legal provisions and all basic rights of prisoners were fulfilled while in prison.