Israeli forces arrest Palestinian ‘doctor of the poor’

Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank, prompting widespread condemnation.Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah.He was later taken to the police station in the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where he is believed to be under interrogation by the Special Investigations Unit. Israeli authorities have not said why he was detained or where he is currently being held.According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the arrest is believed to be connected to Al-Rantisi’s position as chair of the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian non-profit founded in 1985 that operates clinics serving thousands of patients each year, particularly in rural communities with limited access to healthcare.The organisation was declared an “unlawful association” by the Israeli military in 2020 under emergency regulations dating back to the British Mandate for Palestine. Two years later, Israeli forces shut its headquarters in Al-Bireh. Despite those measures, the group remains legally registered with the Palestinian Authority’s interior ministry.News of Al-Rantisi’s detention spread rapidly across the occupied West Bank, with an outpouring of support on social media. Former patients, activists and local leaders described him as a figure whose work reached far beyond the consulting room.Many recalled that he frequently waived consultation fees, supplied medicines to families unable to afford them and distributed donated prescriptions to vulnerable patients. For years, they said, his clinic served not only as a medical practice but also as a place of refuge for some of the poorest members of Palestinian society.The arrest prompted an online solidarity campaign, with supporters demanding his immediate release and information about his whereabouts.“The arrest of Dr Al-Rantisi is another alarming escalation in Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian civil society,” Naji Abbas, the director of the Prisoners and Detainees department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) told the Guardian. “By detaining a respected physician and the head of a leading Palestinian health organisation, the Israeli authorities are further blurring the line between legitimate security measures and the criminalisation of essential civil and humanitarian work.”“Dr Al-Rantisi’s clinic in Ramallah serves hundreds of patients,” PHRI added, “and his detention will inevitably disrupt access to medical care for those who depend on him. His arrest is not just about one doctor – it reflects a broader effort to undermine Palestinian civil institutions and intimidate those working to serve their communities under occupation.”Contacted by the Guardian about the arrest of Al-Rantisi, the Israeli military referred questions about the arrest to the Israel Prison Service. The service referred questions about the arrest to the Israeli military.Since 2020, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, at least a quarter of whom were children, UN data shows. No one has been charged over any of these deaths. According to the leading human rights organisation based in Israel, B’Tselem, as of March 2026, some 9,446 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons; 4,691 of them were under administrative detention, imprisoned without charge, trial, or the ability to defend themselves.Fourteen other doctors from Gaza remain in Israeli detention without charge, amid allegations they have been subjected to harsh treatment.Palestinian doctors have alleged that they were subjected to torture, beatings and sexual violence in Israeli detention.Early in June, another prominent Palestinian doctor from Gaza, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2024 and has been held for more than 500 days without formal charges, was transferred without explanation to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.