Israel maintains a shadowy hospital in the desert for Gaza detainees – AP explains

(1 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Haifa, Israel – 1 June 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Frankel, The Associated Press:
“Throughout Israel’s nearly eight-month offensive on the Gaza Strip it’s come under intense scrutiny for how it’s treating Palestinian detainees from Gaza. Protests have centred on the Sde Teiman military detention facility in southern Israel’s Negev desert. To understand more about the facility, the AP spoke with three doctors who’ve spent time there. They reported treating Palestinians while they were shackled and blindfolded, not having adequate painkillers for surgical procedures, and treating elderly people who did not appear to be combatants.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Frankel, The Associated Press:
“In response to AP’s reporting, the military said it treated all detainees fairly and all who need medical care receive it. The military’s advocate general said she’s investigating conditions of detention at the military detention facilities. Two of the doctors who AP spoke with spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution and what might happen if their names got out in an Israeli society opposed to the idea of treating wounded militants.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Frankel, The Associated Press:
“All eyes this week are on Israel’s highest court as it hears petitions to shut down the facility.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Patients lying shackled and blindfolded on more than a dozen beds inside a white tent in the desert.

Surgeries performed without adequate painkillers.

Doctors who remain anonymous.

These are some of the conditions at Israel’s only hospital dedicated to treating Palestinians detained by the military in the Gaza Strip, three people who have worked there told The Associated Press, confirming similar accounts from human rights groups.

While Israel says it detains only suspected militants, many patients have turned out to be non-combatants taken during raids, held without trial and eventually returned to war-torn Gaza.

Eight months into the Israel-Hamas war, accusations of inhumane treatment at the Sde Teiman military field hospital are on the rise, and the Israeli government is under growing pressure to shut it down.

Rights groups and other critics say what began as a temporary place to hold and treat militants after October 7 has morphed into a harsh detention centre with too little accountability.

The military denies the allegations of inhumane treatment and says all detainees needing medical attention receive it.

The hospital is near the city of Beersheba in southern Israel.

It opened beside a detention centre on a military base after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel because some civilian hospitals refused to treat wounded militants.

Of the three workers interviewed by AP, two spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution and public rebuke.

The military this week said it formed a committee to investigate detention centre conditions, but it was unclear if that included the hospital.

Next week Israel’s highest court is set to hear arguments from human rights groups seeking to shut it down.

Israel has not granted journalists or the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the Sde Teiman facilities.

===========================================================

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/

You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c743b1a8eb704d64a2fb931ba33f7ee8

• Breaking News