Gaza doctor describes ordeal of detention
By Bassam Masoud and Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Opening video clip – Transcript:

This Palestinian doctor says Israeli forces in Gaza detained him when they overran a hospital and subjected him to abuse during 45 days of captivity. Dr. Said Abdul Rahman Maarouf worked at al-Ahli al-Arab Hospital in Gaza City when it was surrounded by Israeli forces in December. He said his detention included sleep deprivation and constant shackling and blindfolding, before he was released last week. He said he was told to sleep in places that were covered with pebbles and that there was loud music blaring.

“The torture was very severe in Israeli prisons. I am a doctor. My weight was 87 Kg. I lost in 45 days more than 25 Kg of my weight. I lost my balance. I lost focus. I lost all feeling. We were shackled for 45 days, handcuffed for 45 days. However you describe the suffering and the insult in prison, you can never know the reality unless you lived through it.”

The Israeli military says it treats detainees in accordance with international law, and its protocols are to treat them with dignity. It said in a statement that, quote, “incidents in which the guidelines were not followed will be looked into.”

Maarouf said he had no idea where he was detained as he was blindfolded through his nearly seven-weeks of his detention and he was not sure if he was held inside or outside Gaza. He believes that he was one of more than 100 prisoners being held in the same place. Dropped at the Kerem Shalom crossing, he was eventually picked up the Red Cross. His arrest was the last moment he had news of his family, and he still does not know if they survived the onslaught as Israeli forces advanced into Gaza City.

The conflict was initiated when Hamas militants crossed into Israeli towns on October 7th, killing more that 1200 people and taking away more than 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Health authorities in Hamas run Gaza say Israel’s offensive has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians.

Maarouf has resumed work in a children’s ward in Gaza, a return to routine amid the lingering scars of the conflict.

Printed text, Part 1: Transcription of the video clip

5 Pictures: Text: Palestinian doctor Said Abdulrahman Marouf, who was detained by Israel for 45 days and released on Thursday, February 1, examines patients at Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 2, 2024.

Printed text, Part 2:
No information:
Maarouf held back tears as he described his last phone conversation with his daughter as the Israeli soldiers called on loudspeakers for all doctors and medical staff to leave the hospital building.
She had been in the family home in Gaza City, one of his five children who were all there with his wife and 15 to 20 other relatives.
“Dad the bombing has reached us. What do we do?” she said to him. He replied that if he told her to stay and they were killed, or if he told her to leave and they were killed it would be torture for him.
“If you want to leave then leave. If you want to stay then stay. I’m in the same trench with you and I’m going now to the Israeli soldiers without knowing my fate,” he remembered telling her.
“From that moment until today I have no information about my children or my wife,” he said, crying.
The devastation in Gaza has scattered families and cut off communications, making it hard for people to reach many areas physically and unable to contact each other by phone, with most telecom networks down.
Maarouf believes he was one of more than 100 prisoners being held in the same place. “Each one of us was wishing for death… wishing to die from the severity of the suffering,” he said.
He said being told to try to sleep lying on pebbles was the worst part of his experience.
“I am a pediatrician working for 23 years in this field. I did not commit any humanitarian crime. My weapon is my pen, my notebook and my stethoscope. I didn’t leave the place. I was treating children inside hospitals,” he said.
“When we were called to where the tanks were I thought we’d be there a few hours and leave. I thought if they took me and my colleagues they would treat us well because we are doctors and did not commit any crime,” he said.
Back in Gaza, he is working again in a children’s ward, a stethoscope around his neck, the sound of crying infants and the concerned whispers of parents around him once more.
Reporting by Bassam Masoud and Ibraheem Abu Mustafa in Rafah and Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson