© CNN
A Sky News investigation published on 16 November has revealed new details surrounding Israel's torture and murder of the famous Palestinian surgeon from Gaza, Adnan al-Bursh, at Ofer Prison in the occupied Palestinian West Bank last May.
A fellow Palestinian prisoner at Ofer told the British news channel that Israeli guards severely tortured Dr Bursh and then left him to die alone, naked from the waist down, in the prison yard.
The prisoner, who previously knew the doctor in Gaza, provided the new details in a deposition to lawyers from HaMoked, an Israeli human rights organization.
"In mid-April 2024, Dr Adnan Al-Bursh arrived at Section 23 in Ofer Prison. The prison guards brought Dr Adnan Al-Bursh into the section in a deplorable state. He had clearly been assaulted with injuries around his body. He was naked in the lower part of his body," the prisoner's deposition states.
"The prison guards threw him in the middle of the yard and left him there. Dr Adnan Al-Bursh was unable to stand up. One of the prisoners helped him and accompanied him to one of the rooms. A few minutes later, prisoners were heard screaming from the room they went into, declaring Dr Adnan Al-Bursh (was dead)."
Bursh was widely regarded as one of the best-qualified and well-known surgeons in Gaza.
When Israel's war on Gaza began in October of last year, the renowned surgeon worked at Al-Shifa Hospital as the head of orthopedic surgery. He worked around the clock, performing surgeries on Palestinians injured by Israel's horrific bombing campaign.
When Israeli troops laid siege to Al-Shifa in November, the staff was forced to flee.
Bursh fled by foot to the Indonesian Hospital in Bait Lahia to continue serving wounded patients.
He documented his experiences on video, including when Israel shelled the hospital, killing 12 people.
He was then forced to leave the Indonesia Hospital as well and moved to the Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza's north, where he was abducted by Israeli forces.
After the soldiers surrounded the hospital, "They told [Dr Bursh] that if all men do not come down... they will destroy the Awda Hospital with all the women and children in it," a fellow doctor at Al-Awda, Mohammad Obeid, told Sky News.
After Dr Bursh left the hospital, Israeli soldiers "called his name out" and then "roughly" took him away, Obeid stated.
Bursh was then taken to the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp in the Negev Desert.
The facility became notorious this summer after prison guards, doctors, and former inmates gave testimony of prisoners being tortured and raped there.
Dr Khalid Hamouda, a former inmate at Sde Teiman, told Sky News that of the 100 prisoners in the section of the camp where he was held, at least a quarter were healthcare workers.
Dr Bursh was beaten severely at Sde Teiman.
"He thought he may have broken ribs," Dr Hamouda said. "He was unable to even go to the toilet alone."
The doctor was then transferred to Ofer Prison in the Israeli prison system but was never charged with any crime or terrorism.
Since 7 October 2023, at least 43 prisoners have died in Israeli jails, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
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