A prominent Palestinian medical worker from Gaza has died while imprisoned in an Israeli detention facility, intensifying concerns over systematic mistreatment within the prison system. Hatem Ismail Rayyan, 59 years old, was declared deceased at the Negev desert prison complex, as confirmed by Palestinian authorities on Thursday.
Rayyan, a dedicated paramedic, was apprehended alongside his injured son, Muath, during an Israeli military operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia on December 27, 2024. The raid resulted in the detention of numerous medical staff, patients, and family members present at the medical facility. Witness accounts describe individuals being forced to undress to their undergarments at gunpoint before being transported to undisclosed locations.
According to Muneer al-Boursh, Director General of the Health Ministry, Rayyan represented the epitome of medical professionalism rather than combatant activity. ‘He was detained from within a hospital—a sanctuary intended for saving lives—and transformed from a lifesaver into merely a prisoner number,’ Boursh stated in a social media post, characterizing Israeli detention centers as ‘slow-moving graves’ that constitute ‘another arena of suffering.’
This incident occurs against the backdrop of a comprehensive report jointly issued by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. The document outlines what it describes as ‘severely inhumane systematic policies’ leading to prisoner fatalities. These facilities, according to the report, have evolved into centers of torture specifically designed to physically and mentally break inmates through prolonged suffering and what the organizations term ‘slow-execution policies.’
The report further indicates that the past two years have witnessed unprecedented brutality, with prisoner fatalities during this period equaling the total number of detainee deaths over the preceding 24 years. These findings lead the rights groups to assert that Palestinian prisoners are experiencing ‘systematic genocide,’ subjected to torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence, mass isolation, and deprivation of fundamental human necessities.
Medical personnel and journalists are identified as particularly targeted groups within the detention system. Current estimates indicate over 100 Palestinian prisoners have died since the beginning of the conflict, with 86 officially identified. As of December 2025, more than 9,300 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody, approximately half of whom (4,750) are held without formal charges or trial. The actual number of detainees is believed to be higher due to Israel’s withholding of information regarding hundreds seized from Gaza.