STORY: The head of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Selmia is one of hundreds of doctors detained by Israel during its two-year assault on Hamas and the enclave.

He says he was handcuffed, blindfolded, stripped naked and subjected to a humiliating search.

''This involved insults, with sand thrown on my head, putting dirt into my mouth, and severe beatings,'' he says.

Abu Selmia was released by Israeli forces but around 60 healthcare workers remain in detention, including doctors represented by Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

The group petitioned Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday demanding the immediate release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza who have been held without charge for more than a year.

They say they are being held under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows for indefinite detention without charge.

PHRI director Naji Abbas accused the Israeli army of pursuing a policy to destroy the health system in Gaza.

"We saw that by bombing the hospitals - the building itself - by invading the hospitals, and after that by detaining the doctors and the healthcare workers.''

Israel says Hamas used hospitals to plan attacks and operate from tunnels beneath them, claims the group denies.

It has also accused some Gaza health workers, including doctors, of having links to the militant group.

Abbas added that the detained doctors had complained of being infected with scabies, and that they were denied treatment.

Israel's Prison Service told Reuters it rejected all allegations that the doctors had been mistreated in prison.

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Hussam Abu Safiya is the most prominent of the doctors still being held.

His arrest from a northern Gaza hospital in late 2024 drew international condemnation.

His brother Muafaq says he was informed by their lawyer that he had lost 88 pounds while in prison.

He says he has suffered four fractured ribs along with other ailments.

The Prison Service did not comment on Abu Safiya's case specifically

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza was launched after a Hamas cross-border assault in October 2023.

Up until October 2025, when a ceasefire was reached, Israeli attacks had killed more than 1,700 healthcare workers, according to the Medical Aid for Palestinians association.

It was not immediately clear if or when the court would hear the petition.