Prominent Gaza doctor dies in Israeli prison after four months of detention

In short: Adnan Al-Bursh, the head of orthopaedics at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, was detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada hospital in northern Gaza.
Israel’s prison service issued a statement in April saying a prisoner had died, but gave no detail on the cause of death, and has only now confirmed the statement referred to Dr Al-Bursh.
What’s next? Hamas has sent a delegation to Egypt for talks with Israeli negotiators, in a new sign of progress towards a potential ceasefire deal.

A senior Palestinian doctor has died in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations have said, blaming Israel for his death.

The associations said in a joint statement on Thursday local time that Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopaedics at Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, had been detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada hospital in northern Gaza.

They called his death an “assassination” and said his body remained in Israeli custody.
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The Israeli prison service issued a statement on April 19 saying that a prisoner detained for national security reasons had died in Ofer Prison in the West Bank, but giving no detail on the cause of death.

A prison service spokesperson confirmed that the statement referred to Dr Al-Bursh, and said the incident was being investigated.

Medical groups, including the World Health Organization, have repeatedly called for a halt to attacks on Gaza healthcare workers, with more than 200 killed so far in the Gaza conflict, according to an estimate from Insecurity Insight, a research group that collects and analyses data on attacks on aid workers around the world.

The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that Dr Al-Bursh’s death raised to 496 the number of medical sector workers who had been killed by Israel since Hamas’ attack on October 7 last year.

It added that 1,500 others had been wounded, while 309 had been arrested.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes and says its operations against them have been justified by the presence of fighters. Hamas and medical staff deny the allegations.
Lebanese media says Hamas wants a deal that ends the war in Gaza, rather than a temporary ceasefire.
More prisoners released, including body of dead detainee

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli authorities released 64 Palestinians they had detained during their military offensive in Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the Palestinian borders and crossings agency said.

That number included the body of a man who had died in detention, the prisoners’ associations said. Another freed detainee arrived in a critical condition and was one of several people moved into hospital upon arrival.
A middle-aged Palestinian man seated in a blue T-shirt stares straight ahead as he is hugged by a crying woman.
Jamal Al-Esawi, a Palestinian man released from an Israeli prison, is hugged by a relative at a hospital in Rafah on Thursday.(Reuters: Hatem Khaled)

Dozens of Palestinians who have been freed by Israel in past months, including some staff of a UN agency, have reported ill treatment during their detention, including torture and deprivation of food and sleep.

The two new deaths bring the toll of Gazans who have died in Israeli custody to at least 18 since the start of the war, the prisoners associations said, urging Israeli authorities to disclose the number, location and fate of detainees from Gaza.
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The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency has documented the release of 1,506 people detained by the Israeli authorities through the Kerem Shalom crossing as of April 4, and said the transfer of detainees regularly holds up aid.

The 1,506 people released included 43 children and 84 women, it said.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack, which by its tallies killed 1,200 people with 253 taken hostage.

The subsequent Israeli bombardment has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medics, and has displaced the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Hamas on Thursday said it was sending a delegation to Egypt for talks with Israeli negotiators aimed at securing a ceasefire deal that could end the conflict in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.