Physicians for Human Rights

Illustrative photo of an Israeli soldier blindfolding a Palestinian prisoner. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

How Israeli doctors enable the Shin Bet’s torture industry

From approving brutal interrogation techniques to writing false medical reports, doctors in Israel have taken an active role in the torture of Palestinian prisoners. By Ruchama Marton If the Shin Bet runs a school for its agents and interrogators, the curriculum most certainly includes a class on how to tell a lie. The texts taught, it seems,…

By +972 Magazine October 7, 2019

Illustrative photo of an Israeli recruit receiving a painful vaccine injection on his first day of military service. November 23, 2008. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Why did the Israeli army conduct anthrax experiments on its soldiers?

Ten years after it ended, most of the details of a secret trial that tested anthrax vaccines on Israeli soldiers remain unknown. Who was really behind the experiments, and were they even needed at all? By Ran Goldstein A hit TV show, “Taagad,” recently came to the end of its run in Israel. Set in an army…

By +972 Magazine December 16, 2016

International Red Cross members try to secure an ambulance for ill Palestinians for transport to Israel as Israeli tanks stand watch, northern Gaza near the Erez Crossing, June 19, 2007. (Ahmad Khateib/Flash90)

Israel deems comatose Gaza man a security threat

Abed al-Karim Abu Haloub has been in a coma in Gaza for over 40 days, requiring treatment in the West Bank. Israel repeatedly refused to allow him to leave. Israeli authorities repeatedly refused to allow a Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment in the West Bank, denying his travel permit on security…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man November 24, 2016

Latest

A Palestinian man lying on a bed wears a face covering depicting hunger striking Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, on February 19, 2016, during a demonstration protest marking 11 year for the struggle against the wall in the West Bank village of Bilin, near Ramallah. Israel's Supreme Court said on February 16, 2016, the Palestinian hunger striker who has fasted over 80 days must stay in the northern Israeli hospital where he is being held, after a compromise bid failed. (Activestills.org)

Force-feeding law seeks to oppress Palestinian lives, not save them

Israeli security authorities view hunger striking Palestinian prisoners as political time-bombs that can undermine the occupation’s control. The High Court agrees. In a unanimous decision by a three-justice panel, the Israeli High Court on Sunday approved the legality of the force-feeding law, which was enacted by the Knesset in July 2015. The law allows Israeli authorities to forcibly…

By Amjad Iraqi September 13, 2016

Palestinians demonstrate in solidarity with the journalist Muhammad Al-Qiq, 33, who has been on hunger strike for 36 days in Israeli prisons, since Israeli forces arrested him from his home last month, Nablus, West Bank, December 31, 2015. (photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz)

Hunger striking Palestinian journalist accuses hospital of forced treatment

Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq, who began his hunger strike 60 days ago, claims hospital staff have been forcing him to receive liquids intravenously against his will. By Noam Rotem (translated by Einat Adar) In Afula’s Haemek Medical Center, a 33-year-old Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq is being shackled to his bed 24 hours a day. Next…

By +972 Magazine January 24, 2016

Screenshot of security cameras in Hebron's Al-Ahly hospital capturing Israeli Yamam forces dressed up as a woman in labor and her accompaniment.

Attacks on Palestinian hospitals are a red line we must not cross

The next time a Palestinian disguises himself as a journalist to attack Israelis, remember that Israelis do similar things. The next time Palestinians hide weapons in a civilian ambulance, the next time a stabber disguises himself as a journalist, the next time Palestinians shoot rockets from near a United Nations building, remember that officers from…

By Haggai Matar November 13, 2015

The Palestinian former prisoner Khader Adnan works at his bakery in the West Bank Village of Qabatiya near Jenin, June 21, 2013. Adnan is a former administrative detainee in Israeli jails. He was released on April 18, 2012, after being on hunger strike for 66 days. He inspired more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners to start their own hunger strikes, For the Palestinians, he became the symbol of the hunger strike strategy. (Photo by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/ Activestills.org)

Post-hunger strike, admin detainee Khader Adnan is re-hospitalized

Adnan, who is to be released in less than a week according to a deal reached with the state, is still being shackled to his hospital bed. By Yael Marom Just over a week after ending his 54-day hunger strike, administrative detainee Khader Adnan was re-hospitalized in recent days following a deterioration in his medical…

By +972 Magazine July 7, 2015

Khader Adnan plays with his daughters in the West Bank village of Araba, near Jenin on his first day of freedom from incarceration in an Israeli prison, April 18, 2012. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Palestinian prisoner nears 40th day of hunger strike

Khader Adnan, who became the symbol of Palestinian administrative detainees after refusing food for 66 days in 2011, is once again on hunger strike. Adnan’s wife: ‘He has no other choice. He is very strong and won’t budge until he is free.’ By Yael Marom Khader Adnan, the symbol of Palestinian administrative detainees, is once…

By +972 Magazine June 11, 2015

Medics at the Al-Shifa hospital mourn their colleague targeted and killed in Shejaiya neighbourhood earlier today, Gaza Strip, July 20, 104. Spokesman of the Palestinian ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said rescue teams evacuated more than 80 dead bodies from destroyed houses in Shejaiya including 17 children, 14 women and 4 elderly people. More than 200 injured people were taken to al-Shifa Hospital. Death toll in the Gaza Strip accedes 392 with over 2650 wounded since the beginning of the Israeli offensive. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Report details IDF ‘double tap’ bombings that hit first responders in Gaza

Using human shields, attacking medical teams and hospitals, shooting at civilians waving white flags. A new report by Physicians for Human Rights authored by a team of international medical experts documents shocking testimonies of victims and presents new evidence from Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. The thing that shocked me most in a new report…

By Haggai Matar January 21, 2015

A Palestinian man from Gaza walks down an open air corridor at the Erez Crossing terminal, the northern checkpoint leading from the Gaza Strip to Israel, in the area of Beit Hanun, February 14, 2012. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Resource: How the Shin Bet holds Gazans’ health ransom

A 2008 report by Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, detailing for the first time the methods Israel’s domestic security services use to exploit the medical needs of Gaza Strip residents in order to extort them into becoming collaborators for Israel. In September 2014, dozens of Israeli army intelligence reservists publicly spoke out…

By +972 Resources September 16, 2014

African Asylum seekers take part in a silent protest in front of the African union offices in Tel Aviv, against the new detention center, calling to the Israeli government to recognize their refugee rights, January 22, 2014. African Asylum seekers held twelve demonstrations in front of different embassies in Tel Aviv, as around the world activists protested in front of Israeli embassies, calling for recognition of refugee rights of Asylum seekers in Israel. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Photos of the week: Asylum seekers, LGBT activists hit the streets

This week: solidarity with asylum seekers, animal rights activism, denouncing against attacks on transgender people, return of Palestinian militants’ remains, tear gas in Aida Camp, military training in the Jordan Valley, Palestinian steadfastness in Khirbet Makhoul, protests against medical privatization, and weekly demonstrations against the occupation. …

By Activestills January 24, 2014

JTF Guard Force Troopers transport a Guantanamo detainee to the detainee hospital located adjacent to Camp Four, Dec. 27, 2007. (photo: Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Billings)

After years of false promises, time to close Guantanamo

It has been five years since President Barack Obama promised to close the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention center – and yet 155 prisoners remain imprisoned under harsh conditions. By [Author’s name redacted] Five years ago yesterday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The facility has not…

By +972 Magazine January 23, 2014

Prisoners/imprisonment/handcuffs (Activestills)

WATCH: Why is Israel still shackling hospitalized prisoners?

As far back as 2008, Israel’s Health Ministry and Prison Service formulated clear criteria for the shackling of hospitalized prisoners. But as it turns out, the Prison Service still dictates the policy and doctors’ hands are tied — and shackling procedures are still being applied arbitrarily. Related: As Palestinian hunger strikes come to a head,…

By Social TV June 19, 2013