By Anam Alam

 

TEL AVIV, 01 Sept. - (ANA) - Rights groups say Dr Dima Mohammed Amin Barakat’s detention is part of Israel's campaign of intimidation against Palestinian health workers.

 

Aid groups are calling for the release of a Palestinian doctor who has been held in Israeli detention for over a week, with her ordeal having been extended despite her requiring treatment after suffering a cardiac arrest in custody.

 

Israeli forces raided Dr Dima Mohammed Amin Barakat’s home on 18 August and detained her after she spoke publicly about the treatment of a detained colleague.

 

The gynaecologist’s family members were also left unaware and uninformed of her whereabouts for 36 hours.

 

“It is outrageous that Palestinian doctors and other healthcare workers are being detained,” Aseel Baidoun, Deputy Director of Advocacy and Communications at Medical Aid for Palestinians, told The New Arab.

 

“Healthcare workers should be able to carry out their essential work, and to advocate for the safety and dignity of colleagues, without fear for their own safety or freedom.”

 

Barakat’s arrest came after the detention of Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, known in the occupied West Bank as the “doctor of the poor” for providing low-cost services to lower-income patients, which the doctor was vocal about days before her detention.

 

Since Barakat's arrest, she has suffered a cardiac episode in detention and underwent cardiac catheterisation before being returned to interrogation.

 

Her lawyers also reported that she spent several days in solitary confinement and was denied necessities, including her glasses and a mattress.

 

Baidoun highlights that Barakat’s case is part of a wider pattern of detention and intimidation of Palestinian healthcare workers in the West Bank and Gaza, noting the detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who has now been held without charge or trial since December 2024.

 

“From the West Bank to Gaza, Palestinian healthcare workers are being put at risk for doing their jobs and speaking up for their patients and colleagues,” the deputy director said.

 

“That has devastating consequences for Palestinians trying to access healthcare when they need it most.”

 

Despite Israel's ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, Palestinian healthcare workers have continued to provide care as Israel continues to decimate the enclave’s healthcare system, while killing and arresting healthcare workers.

 

“It is important that Dr Dima Amin’s case does not become simply another name or statistic. She is a doctor whose work is to care for patients,” Baidoun reiterated.

 

“Healthcare workers must be protected and able to provide care safely, as well as advocate for their patients and colleagues without intimidation or detention.”

 

“Dr Dima and all arbitrarily detained doctors should be released, and all allegations of abuse and denial of medical care in detention should be independently investigated.”

 

After Israel began its military onslaught on Gaza in 2023, Israeli forces have detained 314 Palestinian doctors in the occupied West Bank and 324 in the Gaza Strip.

 

Palestinian human rights organisations and UN bodies have documented allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, medical neglect and inhumane detention conditions affecting Palestinian detainees.

 

“These are doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who should be caring for patients, not facing detention or alleged abuse,” Baidoun asserts.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/01 September 2026 - - -