Hind Rajab Foundation asks ICC to investigate Israeli doctors over Sde Teiman abuse

Mixed · 2The Hind Rajab Foundation said it submitted a request to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate Israeli medical personnel and senior officials over alleged torture, abuse and deaths of Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman detention facility. 1 2 Mixed · 2The submission was filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, which lets organisations and individuals give the ICC prosecutor information about alleged crimes. The Jerusalem Post stressed that it is not an indictment and not a court decision to open an investigation. 1 2 Mixed · 2It names medical professionals, hospital administrators, Health and Defense Ministry officials and Israel Medical Association (IMA) leaders. Those named include former health ministers Moshe Arbel and Uriel Buso, IMA chairman Zion Hagai (spelled Hagay by Anadolu), IMA director-general Leah Wapner and Dr Yosef Walfisch, chairman of the IMA's Ethics Bureau. 1 2

Mixed · 2The foundation says the alleged acts could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity; the Jerusalem Post adds that it also cites genocide. 1 2 Mixed · 2According to the foundation, the Health Ministry set up the field hospital at Sde Teiman after 7 October 2023, and staff there were placed under Military Police authority. It cites a Health Ministry directive of December 2023 (19 December, per Anadolu) that required detainees to be treated handcuffed and blindfolded, barred staff from giving their names, and allowed forced treatment. 1 2 Mixed · 2The filing relies on earlier testimony: an Associated Press report in which medical workers described surgeries without adequate pain relief, and an April 2024 letter from a Sde Teiman doctor warning that two detainees had had legs amputated because of injuries from prolonged shackling. 1 2

Centre · 1Anadolu reports the foundation's claim that at least 29 detainees had died at Sde Teiman by November 2025 from physical violence, medical neglect or both. 2 Mixed · 2The foundation accuses the IMA of helping legitimise the treatment. It cites an April 2024 letter in the American Journal of Bioethics by Hagay, Walfisch and Malka Boro, who said detainees were receiving appropriate care while acknowledging that isolated violations might occur. The foundation says IMA leaders defended the care instead of investigating. 1 2 Right · 1The Jerusalem Post says the timing was deliberate, coinciding with the World Medical Association General Assembly in Rotterdam (7-10 October), which IMA representatives attend. Foundation director-general Dyab Abou Jahjah said the WMA must explain why it hosts an organisation he says gave institutional backing to torture. 1

Right · 1The IMA has rejected calls for its suspension from the WMA. In July it said more than 5,000 doctors from 46 countries had signed a petition against removing it, calling the campaign an attempt to bring politics into medicine and saying the accusations included false or disputed claims. 1 Mixed · 2The foundation says the ICC filing is only a start: it is preparing case files against Israeli medical professionals with foreign citizenship, to be submitted to prosecutors in their countries of citizenship. Founded in February 2024 and based in Brussels, it has brought cases in several countries against Israeli officials and soldiers. 1 2