Health Ministry issues directives for medical treatment of detained Gazan terrorists
Following deaths of several Palestinians at IDF Sde Teiman medical facility, the government gives clear instructions about care for ‘illegal combatants’
The Health Ministry issued this week protocols for the medical treatment of terrorists detained in Gaza since October 7, and then held in Israel.
The ministry directive was issued on Tuesday, the same day that the IDF said it was investigating the deaths of several detainees who were arrested in military operations across the Gaza Strip during fighting with Hamas terrorists. A number of them had been held at the Sde Teiman IDF base near Beersheba.
Hundreds of Palestinians are being held in detention centers in southern Israel, having been detained in military operations across Gaza since the war erupted on October 7, when Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians massacred in brutal atrocities and taking around 240 hostages to Gaza.
The Health Ministry directive is presumably meant to clarify lingering questions about the treatment of terrorists in detention centers and the conditions under which they may be brought to a civilian hospital.
In the confusion of the first days after October 7, some injured terrorists were rushed to hospitals in southern and central Israel, leading to outrage among much of the public and many healthcare professionals.
In early October, then-health minister Moshe Arbel sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informing him that he had ordered all public hospitals and health services to redirect injured terrorists to IDF or prison service medical facilities.
“Since the beginning of the war, the issue of treating the accursed Hamas terrorists in public hospitals has created great strain on the healthcare system,” Arbel wrote.
He wrote that the health system needed to be focused on treating victims of the slaughter committed by the terrorists and injured soldiers, and on overall wartime preparedness.
“The task of treating and providing security for the accursed terrorists in the public healthcare system just detracts from this,” Arbel wrote.
After Arbel sent the letter, the vast majority of terrorists were taken to Sde Teiman. However, a small number have been treated at civilian medical centers.
In the new Health Ministry document, Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, Head of the General Medical Division, wrote that the decision to send injured terrorists to the Sde Teiman medical facility was made to ensure the security of the terrorists, other patients, staff and visitors.
According to the released protocols, “illegal combatants” should be medically treated while handcuffed and blindfolded, unless care requires otherwise. The use of the term “illegal combatants” is a purely legal one used to distinguish the terrorists from prisoners of war, whose medical care is governed by the Geneva Conventions.
Terrorists detained in Israel will only be treated for injuries resulting from the fighting. Treatment for any illness or condition unrelated to combat will be considered separately.
Medical staff must not identify themselves by name to terrorist patients, and should not sign paperwork with their names. They may identify themselves only by their medical profession and specialty.
“Complete anonymity of the treating medical staff is critical to their life and security, and their rights as citizens and soldiers in their reserve duty,” the ministry’s document said.
The medical facility at Sde Teiman is run by a senior physician and staffed by healthcare professionals serving in the reserves. It is set up for a range of medical care, including “moderate” surgeries under anesthesia and blood transfusions.
If a terrorist’s injuries are life-threatening or could lead to irreversible damage or disability, a senior doctor may transfer them to a civilian hospital for necessary treatment. Such scenarios could include the amputation of a limb, or the loss of an eye or the functioning of a critical organ.
Such a transfer would require coordination with the Health Ministry and the receiving hospital’s high-level administration and must be done with a security escort.
Should an injured terrorist in detention refuse necessary treatment ordered by a doctor, the Health Ministry gives medical staff permission to force them to receive it.
“If it is possible, given the facility and time, the treating doctor should engage in an ethical consultation with another physician and jurist or expert in medical ethics before resorting to force,” the directive says.
