Ramallah, September 20 (RHC)-- The Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday Dr. Ziad Mohammed al-Dalou, who was abducted by Israeli forces during its March raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, has died in an Israeli jail. 

Dr. Dalou was detained on March 18th from al-Shifa Hospital, along with dozens of other health workers, when Israeli forces raided the facility in a two-week-long assault. 

The deadly raid decimated the hospital, which had been the largest and most equipped medical facility in the Gaza Strip. After the Israeli forces withdrew, dozens of bodies were found buried in mass graves in the hospital’s courtyards.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Dr. Dalou was detained while performing his duties at the hospital. 

“The ministry condemns this heinous crime against Palestinian healthcare workers,” the ministry said.   “Targeting healthcare workers while performing their humanitarian duty is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

In April, it was revealed that Adnan al-Bursh, a Palestinian surgeon and professor of orthopaedic medicine, had been killed by torture while in Israeli detention.  Bursh, who headed orthopaedic medicine at al-Shifa Hospital, was arrested in December from al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza after refusing to abandon patients wounded in Israeli bombardments.

Two months later, it was confirmed that another doctor, Iyad al-Rantisi, also died under torture by Israeli guards.

Dr. Rantisi, who was the director of the maternity department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, died shortly after he was detained by invading troops in November.  He was arrested while travelling from northern Gaza to the south with his family, wearing his scrubs, and adhering to the Israeli-designated “safe corridor”.