Before dawn on 21 June, Israeli soldiers raided the home of Dr Mazen Rantisi in Ramallah. The 71-year-old doctor was arrested and, nearly two months later, remains in detention. His health is deteriorating and, according to his family, he is being denied essential medication in prison.
Dr Mazen is the chair of Health Work Committees (HWC), a Palestinian health organisation and partner of Viva Salud. But in Ramallah, many know him simply as “the doctor of the poor.” For decades, he has made healthcare accessible to people who struggled to afford a doctor or medication.
His arrest is therefore not an isolated incident. It forms part of a wider crackdown on Palestinian healthcare workers and organisations that help communities to survive and remain resilient under Israeli occupation.
The doctor of the poor
Mazen Rantisi has devoted much of his life to looking after the health of others. After studying medicine, he worked, amongst other roles, as a doctor at Birzeit University. He later travelled to villages around Ramallah where medical services were virtually non-existent.
In his own practice too, healthcare was first and foremost a right, not a privilege. Whilst a consultation elsewhere might cost around 100 shekels, for years Dr Mazen charged only a fraction of that amount. Those who could not afford to pay were treated free of charge.
His decades of dedication earned him the nickname “the doctor of the poor.”
Arrested in his own home
On 21 June, everything changed suddenly. Israeli forces raided his home in Ramallah and took him away.
His arrest came as a shock to his family. Dr Mazen had never been arrested before and was known above all for his commitment to healthcare and his community.
Since then, he has been held in extremely harsh conditions. Family visits to Palestinian prisoners have been banned since October 2023. As a result, his family can only catch brief glimpses of him during court hearings.
On one such occasion, Sylvia noticed that her father had lost a considerable amount of weight. According to her, he is not taking his regular medication for several chronic health conditions.
Abuse, hunger and medical neglect
Through his lawyer, details have also emerged regarding the conditions under which Dr Mazen is being held.
During the first three days of his detention, he reportedly received no food at all. According to his testimony, his first meal consisted of a tomato, a half-cooked egg and a piece of bread.
He also described how prisoners are subjected to daily humiliation and abuse. Mattresses are taken away during the day and returned wet. During roll calls, prisoners are forced to kneel whilst handcuffed. During raids on their cells, detainees are beaten.
The 71-year-old doctor is so vulnerable that, according to his daughter, younger Palestinian prisoners try to shield him with their own bodies during such attacks.
An attack on Palestinian healthcare
Dr Mazen is facing prosecution because of his role as chair of Health Work Committees. HWC provides healthcare to thousands of Palestinians, including in remote and vulnerable communities where the Israeli occupation severely restricts access to regular healthcare.
The organisation has been targeted by Israel for years. This repression is part of a wider campaign against Palestinian civil society and human rights organisations. In 2021, Israel designated six prominent Palestinian organisations as “terrorist organisations”. In August 2022, their offices, along with those of HWC, were raided and sealed.
Israel’s allegations against Palestinian NGOs have been strongly contested internationally. Investigations in Europe, amongst others, found insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. Human rights organisations have warned that these measures are aimed at weakening Palestinian civil society.
Dr Mazen’s arrest shows just how far this repression extends. It affects not only political activists, but also people who support their communities through healthcare, human rights work and social organisations.
“He gives people hope”
For his daughter Sylvia, that is precisely why her father became a target.
People like Dr Mazen enable Palestinian society to continue functioning despite the occupation and repression. They organise healthcare, support those who might otherwise be left behind, and strengthen solidarity within their communities.
According to Sylvia, this is precisely why people who serve their communities are targeted: because they make those communities stronger and more resilient. Her father, she says, is someone who gives people hope.
That makes his arrest more than just an attack on a single doctor. It is an attack on Palestinians’ right to organise and on their right to health.
Viva Salud stands in solidarity with Dr Mazen Rantisi, the Health Work Committees and all Palestinian health workers who continue to carry out their work under increasingly difficult conditions.
We demand the immediate release of Dr Mazen Rantisi and all Palestinian healthcare workers who are being arbitrarily detained. Healthcare workers must be protected, not persecuted.
Providing healthcare is not a crime. Solidarity is not a crime. Free Dr Mazen.
