Amid the haze of the Israeli army’s manifold raids on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip over the past year and a half, it is easy to lose sight of their human impact. The story of Dr. Mahmoud Abu Shahada, the chief of orthopedics at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, helps to reveal their arbitrary brutality and cruelty.

Abu Shahada was one of 70 medical staff arrested along with dozens of patients on Feb. 17, 2024, during Israel’s invasion of the hospital. The arrests were the culmination of a nearly month-long siege on Gaza’s second largest medical facility, where troops fired on the hospital and its courtyard, demolished of the complex’s northern wall, targeted its water tanks, and cut off electricity.

Abu Shahada had not taken any part in the fighting, his lawyer says, but Israel detained him for nearly a year, subjecting him to persistent abuse and forcing him to live in harsh conditions. Following an appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court, Abu Shahada was finally released on Jan. 10. He spoke to +972 shortly after, in an interview that has been edited for length and clarity.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Mahmoud Abu Shahada and I’m 42 years old. I work at Nasser Medical Complex as a consultant and have headed the orthopedic department since 2017. I have worked in the Healthy Ministry since 2009. 

Like all the people of Gaza, I have lived through many wars, and I treated patients whom Israeli forces had wounded during the Great March of Return protests. But nothing was as intense, brutal, and barbaric as this war, with so much displacement and destruction.

Tell us about your life before the war, and how it changed after October 7. 

Before October 7, we lived a quiet life. From the morning until 2 p.m. I would be at the hospital working. Then, I would spend some time with my family. From late afternoon until evening I would work in my private clinic, except for Thursdays, which was my day off. That day was for my children and my wife and it was always busy; we would go out and have dinner outside the house. It was a beautiful day that we always looked forward to. We would release the negative energy and pressures of work and life.

After October 7, I was working a lot in the hospital. We prepared the medical teams to receive the wounded. My children were at home near the southern branch of the Islamic University, and I used to go and visit them twice a week.

On Dec. 5, 2023, however, the ground invasion began in Khan Younis. It was very difficult for me because I was away from the house as the Israeli tanks were approaching it. My family had difficulty evacuating that morning, but they took up residence at the European Hospital [just outside the city].

I continued my work at the Nasser Complex, and once a week I would go and visit my family. I would spend one day with them and then return to my work in rotation with the doctors who were also visiting their families at the European Hospital for the day. This situation continued until the beginning of February, when Israel began besieging Nasser Hospital, and my children insisted on being close to me.

Can you describe what happened in the lead-up to Israel’s raid?

On the evening of Feb. 15, Israeli forces targeted one of the rooms in the orthopedics department next to my office. The entire hospital was in a state of fear. The army ordered us to evacuate the displaced people and patients who were able to walk, leaving only the doctors and immobile patients. 

It was very difficult for me to say goodbye to my children, but I was very afraid about what would happen to them if they stayed. They left with my wife at dawn through the humanitarian corridor. I will not forget those rainy moments in which we parted and did not know each other’s fate.

What happened on the day of your arrest? 

The soldiers lined all of the doctors up in front of the administration building and ordered us to take off our clothes. They checked our identity, blindfolded us, handcuffed us, and led us into the basement of one of the buildings, where they humiliated, insulted, and severely beat us.

From Friday afternoon until Saturday morning, we endured a difficult night of beating and abuse. The weather was cold and we were naked and they sprayed us with cold water. At dawn, they loaded us into large open trucks and transported us to detention centers. They were driving fast and I could feel the truck shaking from the roughness of the road.

During the transport, they sprayed us again with cold water and beat us until we reached the detention centers. They dragged us out of the trucks in a very humiliating way and beat us again, before once more verifying our identities and dressing us in pants and a pullover.

The detention centers were enclosed by barbed wire and chains, resembling cages. They put us in holding cells and each one had a mattress no thicker than a centimeter that we sat on all day, still handcuffed and blindfolded. For two months, we were constantly transferred to interrogation rooms, while being subjected to humiliation and torture.

We were then transferred to Ofer Camp, which consisted of many rooms containing approximately 15 to 20 prisoners each. Our hands were cuffed and only after two full days did they remove our blindfolds. The beating and abuse continued. Two or three times each day, masked soldiers would enter and move us from room to room, beating and humiliating us, while taking all the food and water and throwing it away outside.

What was your experience like in prison? 

I spent about three months in Ofer. They gave us three meals a day: four small pieces of bread and a spoonful of yogurt or half a spoonful of jam. It was useless food. Their goal might have been to keep us alive, and not much else. As for personal hygiene, it was very bad. They would turn on the water in the bathrooms once every two weeks to shower without soap, shampoo, toothpaste, or a toothbrush. We suffered a lot when we went to the bathroom.

After three months, we were transferred to the Negev Prison [Ketziot], where we faced more beating and abuse. I suffered from severe bruises in the chest area and broken ribs, and wounds on my hands from being shackled.

When I arrived at [Ketziot], the other detainees were suffering with skin diseases, pus, and severe infections. After a while, the infections spread to us. We experienced illness, fatigue, and weakness to the point that we couldn’t stand and would get dizzy and lightheaded.

The worst thing was showering and personal hygiene. They would cut off the water for long hours, including the drinking water. The water in the showers was cold. We were forced to use it to maintain personal hygiene, but we suffered from diseases.

We would receive news from the new detainees arriving from Gaza. They told us that the war was ongoing, the destruction and killing had increased many times over, and there was famine. We felt very sad for our families and prayed that the war would end and that we and our families would be safe.

When other detainees were released, those of us left behind would ask them to send messages to our families reassuring them that we were okay. We used to lie and say that we were in good health and that things were fine despite the harsh conditions and the illnesses, because we knew that life outside prison was also difficult, amid displacement and starvation.

On June 6, after four and a half months of detention, I was able to meet with my lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, who reassured me about my family. He told me that, according to my file, there was no charge against me and that I was a prisoner of war. He explained that he would be with me in the next court hearing and would try to secure my release.

Zabarqa’s next visit wasn’t until Sept. 17. Throughout the duration of my detention, I was only allowed these two visits with my lawyer. He submitted a request for medical treatment when he saw that my health was poor. They told him that they would treat me, but they didn’t.

On Sept. 30, I had another court hearing. They told me that there was no charge against me, but the prosecution requested an extension of my detention period for “helping” or being “affiliated with” Hamas. They considered any [public sector] employee to be a member of Hamas, so by virtue of my work in the hospital, they considered me to be a member of a terrorist organization.

After the Israeli authorities extended my administrative detention again, my lawyer appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Three months later, on Dec. 31, I had another court hearing and was transferred to Sde Teiman detention center. There, I was placed in solitary confinement but received health treatment for the first time.

Can you tell us about the moment of your release? 

On the 10th day of my treatment, Jan. 10, 2025, they removed my handcuffs and blindfolds early in the morning and transferred me to the Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] Crossing. There were Red Cross cars there and they told me to go to them. It was an indescribable feeling — I couldn’t walk [from the emotion]. I cried a lot because I finally breathed freedom. For the first time, I saw the sky without bars.

I moved quickly toward the Red Cross vehicle, which took me to Gaza’s European Hospital. I was very tired and they asked me to do some medical tests, but I refused and went home. The only thing on my mind was getting home and seeing my family after spending a year in prison. 

The hours following my release were hours of joy mixed with pain. I was happy that my family was fine, but saddened by the destruction I saw and the number of relatives and loved ones who were martyred. And I wished that all the prisoners were with me that day to taste freedom.

The day after my release, I went back to the hospital to undergo the rest of the medical tests. They gave me IVs because I was anemic, and was suffering from protein deficiency and swelling in my limbs. But I didn’t agree to stay in the hospital because my sisters are doctors and I had the opportunity to complete the treatment at home.

Now I am better physically and psychologically, but I still long for the release of the rest of the Palestinian prisoners. I know what it means to be in prison, subjected to torture and humiliation.

How has the gradual return to life in Gaza been? 

I couldn’t bear not serving patients, so [after some time at home] I returned to Nasser Medical Complex. It was a difficult moment; I got goosebumps. I saw the places I had spent so much time in and remembered the moment of my arrest and the torture I experienced there. 

I was very happy that the complex was functioning again — not at its previous capacity, of course. I hope that we will return to serving our people, the sick and wounded, at full capacity — even better than before. 

How do you feel about the future?

We don’t know what the future holds. The extent of the destruction, the life in tents, the rain and cold weather, the high prices, and the lack of water, services, and many other basic supplies makes it difficult to think about what awaits Gaza. We hope that things improve and we can continue with our daily lives.

How do you view the world’s response to the plight of Gaza’s doctors? 

Unfortunately, from the beginning of the war until now, we doctors have grown disinterested in conveying information to the world, because it is silent in the face of the massacres and destruction in Gaza. It is shameful that the world, and human rights organizations, see what is going on and do not move a finger to save Gaza and its people. But we still hope that there will be a response to our constant cry for help to those who have a heart to save what remains.

+972 contacted the IDF Spokesperson for comment on this report; their response will be added here if received.