Why Did You Need to Kill Dr Rantisi?

The family of a Palestinian doctor who died while being questioned by Israel’s domestic security service, the Shin Bet, has called for an investigation into his death.

Dr. Iyad al-Rantisi, 53, the head of a women’s hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was detained by the Israeli army last November. He died six days after his detention.

Rantisi died at the Shikma prison, a Shin Bet interrogation facility in southern Israel’s Ashkelon, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Shin Bet said they arrested the Palestinian doctor over suspicion of involvement in hiding hostages.

“My husband was detained on Nov. 10 at the Netzarim checkpoint, which separates Gaza’s north and south, which Israel claimed was a safe passage,” his wife Randa told Anadolu.

“On that day, we went to the checkpoint to migrate to southern Gaza upon orders from the Israeli army,” she said.

The Palestinian wife recalled that her husband joined the family immediately after his work at the hospital.

“He did not have the time to change and kept his hospital uniform,” she said.

As the family moved through the checkpoint, the doctor was stopped by Israeli soldiers and ordered to kneel down.

“Ever since, we heard nothing about my husband until the Israeli media announced his death,” the bereaved wife said.

No answer

The family tried tirelessly to seek any information about the whereabouts of the Gazan doctor.

“We tried to reach out to the International Committee of the Red Cross to get information about the doctor, but we received nothing and remained waiting for any information,” Randa said.

The Palestinian wife slammed the Israeli authorities for concealing any information about the circumstances of her husband’s death.

“Why Rantisi and other medical personnel were detained in the first place,” she asked. “What wrongdoing have they committed?”

Rantisi’s brother Suhail was also detained by Israeli forces.

“Our family has already lost Dr. Iyad. We now fear losing the other brother, who is enduring extremely harsh detention conditions,” his sister Hana told Anadolu.

She called on the Israeli authorities to hand over the body of her dead doctor.

“We have been trying to get any piece of information about him, but to no avail,” Hana said, calling for an immediate inquiry into the circumstances of her brother’s death.

She called on human rights groups and medical organizations, including the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders to urgently intervene to hold Israel accountable for the “crimes” it has committed.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 37,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Written by Ikram Kouachi

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Fires are raging in Israel. Flames have started in the West Jerusalem hills and are feared to be creeping into northern and mass Israel with around 119 fire crews, 10 firefighting planes, and a helicopter deployed to attempt to extinguish the blaze according to The Jerusalem Post.

Israel has asked for international help especially from countries like Italy, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus and Bulgaria to attempt to put down the raging fires that are spreading because of high winds. Later reports, and with the inability to contain the fires, Israel called for more help from England, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Argentina, Spain, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan.

The wild fires that started, Wednesday, are trending on the social media with images and videos of what are seen as apocalyptic scenes never seen before in Israel. The blazes, starting from the hills of western Jerusalem have spread to the areas of Tel Aviv in the north with up to eight Israeli municipalities affected with one blogger simply saying “Israel is burning.”

Reports show that people on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway abandoning their cars and running across the wilderness, anywhere, away from the raging fires consuming forests and natural habitats. Reports also suggest that 10,000 Israeli have been evacuated by over-worked Israeli firefighters who fear the battle will be long.

The highway as well as trains between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have since been closed because of the consuming danger.

As soon as they started, Israeli government officials quickly declared a national state of emergency as raging fires spread to settlements and military bases near Jerusalem with soldiers caught in the blazes with reports that blazes raged in 29 locations such as Nataf, Eshtaol, Ramat Raziel, Giv’at Ye’arim, and Kisalon.

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Nobody really knows how the fires have started while Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir rushed to accuse local Palestinians of arson but this is hearsay.

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Israel Fears Hamas Ambushes in Gaza

The Palestinian resistance has begun to translate into reality the warnings issued by the Israeli occupation army, a few days ago, of the possible escalation of operations against its forces inside the Gaza Strip, according to military expert Major-General Fayez al-Duwairi.

Al-Duwairi explained on Al Jazeera the military operations in al-Tuffah area, east of Gaza City, the “Breaking the Sword” ambush east of Beit Hanoun, followed by another ambush in the same location falls within the context of these warnings.

He said the resistance is still able to survive because of the method of battle it is waging and adapting to the movements of the Israeli army. He noted the resistance forces “are not operationally offensive, but rather tactically offensive…”

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The military expert emphasized the resistance factions maintain a high level of preparedness, “albeit varying from one battalion to another,” in his comment on the intensification of operations against the Israeli army.

According to Al-Duwairi, the new Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir came up with exaggerated expectations and an approximation of “zero losses,” based on the deployment of forces in the buffer zone and then a cautious and gradual advance under intense fire.

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A few days ago, the Israeli Walla news website quoted military sources as saying the Israeli army reinforced its defenses at its military positions in the area.

According to these sources, the army warns of a possible escalation of Hamas operations against its forces, as the movement’s militants are expected to launch guerrilla-style operations.

The Israeli army estimates, according to Walla, that Hamas is likely to launch targeted sniper attacks, ambushes, and other complex operations.

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