The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation has officially lodged a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, targeting Israeli medical officials, the Health Ministry, and the Israeli Medical Association. The legal action, filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, alleges that medical personnel were involved in the torture and systematic mistreatment of Palestinian detainees held at the Sde Teiman military detention facility in southern Israel.
Since October 2023, the Sde Teiman base in the Negev desert has served as a detention site for thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, including civilians, journalists, healthcare workers, and humanitarian staff. The foundation asserts that these detainees are classified as "unlawful combatants," a designation it argues is used to strip them of legal protections and justify detention without formal charges or trial. According to the complaint, a medical facility was established at the site shortly after October 7, 2023, with staff required to sign documents placing them under military police authority rather than the army's Medical Corps.
The foundation’s filing highlights a directive issued by the Health Ministry on December 19, 2023, which allegedly mandated that medical staff treat detainees while they remained blindfolded and handcuffed. Furthermore, the complaint claims that medical personnel were instructed to withhold their names, signing records only with professional titles, a practice the foundation argues was intended to obscure individual accountability and prevent the proper documentation of injuries. The filing also alleges that forced medical procedures were carried out without sufficient safeguards.
Specific allegations include accounts of surgeries performed without adequate pain relief, with one report describing an elderly detainee screaming during leg surgery. Other workers reportedly observed detainees restrained by all four limbs to hospital beds and forced to wear diapers. The foundation cited a doctor who informed authorities in April 2024 that two detainees required leg amputations within a single week due to injuries sustained from routine shackling. By November 2025, the foundation reported that at least 29 detainees had died at Sde Teiman due to physical violence, medical neglect, or a combination of both.
The complaint names several high-ranking officials and medical leaders, including former health ministers Moshe Arbel and Uriel Buso, Israeli Medical Association chairman Zion Hagay, director general Leah Wapner, and ethics board chairman Yosef Walfisch. The foundation accused the Israeli Medical Association of complicity, arguing that its leadership publicly defended the care provided at the facility instead of initiating investigations. It further noted that an internal Health Ministry ethical assessment following a visit to Sde Teiman was never made public.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, established in February 2024, has been active in pursuing legal cases internationally regarding events in Gaza. Since October 2023, Palestinian figures report that the conflict has resulted in more than 74,000 deaths and over 175,000 injuries.
