Doctors Without Borders on Monday called for the immediate release of all Palestinian healthcare workers it said are being “arbitrarily” detained by Israel.

In a statement, the medical humanitarian organization expressed its “anger over the treatment of healthcare workers, most of whom are being held in harsh conditions without justification or reason.”

The organization joined calls demanding the release of Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, who has been detained by Israel since December 2024.

The Geneva-based organization said Abu Safiya’s detention comes “as part of the disgraceful conduct by Israeli authorities in arresting and targeting medical workers across Palestine.”

Israel previously claimed earlier this month that his detention was “legal” and rejected reports that he was suffering from a life-threatening health condition.

The statement came after a United Nations investigative team and several UN human rights experts raised serious concerns over the case. Around 50 people, including doctors, union members, and pro-Palestinian activists, gathered outside the French Foreign Ministry headquarters in Paris on Thursday to demand his release.

The 52-year-old pediatrician Abu Safiya gained widespread attention through his social media posts documenting the suffering of patients, injured people, and displaced civilians at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He also refused to evacuate the hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, despite warnings from the Israeli military.

Doctors Without Borders also said that orthopedic surgeon Mohammad Obeid, who works with the organization, has been “detained in Israel for more than 600 days under difficult conditions and without any contact with his family.”

The organization said Israeli forces arrested Obeid on October 26, 2024, while he was carrying out his duties at Kamal Adwan Hospital. It renewed its call for his immediate and unconditional release.

The non-governmental organization rejected “Israel’s arbitrary detention, torture, and abuse of Palestinian medical workers,” adding that “many world leaders have remained silent for far too long and failed to condemn Israel’s practices in Palestine.”

It added: “We call for the immediate release of all medical staff members who are arbitrarily detained and who must be provided with appropriate medical care and detention conditions that guarantee their dignity.”

The organization also said that 15 of its staff members have been killed since the outbreak of the Israeli war on October 7, 2023.