Death of a Doctor from Gaza in Israeli Prison

Two Palestinian prisoner associations announced on Thursday that a prominent Palestinian doctor died in an Israeli prison after more than 4 months of detention, holding Israel responsible for his death. The associations, the Palestinian Prisoners Society and the Prisoners Club, stated in a joint statement that “Israeli forces arrested Dr. Adnan Ahmad Atieh Al-Barsh, head of the orthopedic department at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, while he was temporarily working at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza.” They described his death as “a deliberate assassination,” explaining that his body is still in an Israeli prison. The Israeli Prison Service issued a statement on April 19, indicating that a detainee held for national security reasons had died in Ofer Prison but did not provide details on the cause of death. A spokesperson for the prison service confirmed that the statement refers to Al-Barsh and mentioned that an investigation into the incident is underway.