Hind Rajab Foundation appeals to ICC over Israeli medics — Jerusalem Post
The Hind Rajab Foundation has appealed to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, requesting an investigation into the possible involvement of Israeli medical personnel, hospital administrators and officials in alleged torture, ill-treatment and deaths of Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman detention center. This was reported by the Jerusalem Post, citing a statement by the organization.
The submission names medical workers, representatives of Israel’s health and defense ministries, as well as the leadership of the Israel Medical Association. Among those the foundation asks to be examined are former health ministers Moshe Arbel and Uriel Buso, association chairman Professor Zion Hagay, its director general Leah Wapner, and head of the ethics bureau Yosef Walfish.
Request under the Rome Statute
The foundation claims that the actions it describes may contain elements of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The document was submitted under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, which allows organizations and individuals to provide the ICC prosecutor with information about alleged crimes and request that it be considered.
At the same time, such a submission is not an indictment and does not mean that the court has already decided to open an investigation into any of the named individuals.
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Claims concerning medical treatment
At the center of the submission is a field hospital established in Sde Teiman after the October 7, 2023 attacks. According to the foundation, Israel’s Health Ministry was responsible for establishing and operating the hospital, while medical staff were under the control of the military police.
The organization refers to guidelines allegedly issued in December 2023 that provided for treating detainees while handcuffed and blindfolded, prohibiting medical personnel from giving their names, restricting transfers to civilian hospitals, and allowing forced treatment. The foundation also mentions previously published testimonies by medical workers about surgeries without adequate pain relief and an April 2024 letter from a doctor concerning the amputations of the legs of two detainees after injuries linked to prolonged restraint.
Medical association’s position
The foundation also accuses the leadership of the Israel Medical Association of providing professional and ethical support for the conditions at Sde Teiman. At the same time, in a letter published in April 2024 in the American Journal of Bioethics, Hagay, Walfish and Malka Boro stated that detainees receive proper medical care. They acknowledged the possibility of isolated violations of ethical rules, but said that, to their knowledge, doctors had fulfilled their professional duties.
Earlier, the association said that more than 5,000 doctors from 46 countries had signed a petition against attempts to expel it from the World Medical Association. It called the campaign an attempt to politicize medicine and stated that some of the allegations were false or disputed.
