Israeli troops forced medics to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours —BBC GAZA, Mar 12 (BBC/AFP/Reuters): Palestinian medical staff in Gaza have told the BBC they were blindfolded, detained, forced to strip and repeatedly beaten by Israeli troops after a raid at their hospital last month.
Ahmed Abu Sabha, a doctor at Nasser hospital, described being held for a week in detention, where, he said, muzzled dogs were set upon him and his hand was broken by an Israeli soldier.
His account closely matches those of two other medics who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
They told the BBC they were humiliated, beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours. They said they were detained for days before being released.
The BBC supplied details of their allegations to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). They did not respond directly to questions about these accounts, or deny specific claims of mistreatment. But they denied that medical staff were harmed during their operation.
They said that "any abuse of detainees is contrary to IDF orders and is therefore strictly prohibited".
The IDF raided the hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis - which was one of the few in the Strip still functioning - on 15 February, saying intelligence indicated that the hospital housed Hamas operatives.
Gazans pray in mosque rubble
on first day of Ramadan
Dozens of Gazans offered prayers on Monday, the first day of Ramadan, in the middle of the ruins of a mosque hit by an Israeli air strike just days ago.
Standing in rows before a prayer leader with their hands folded, the Palestinian men were entering a fasting month unlike any they had experienced before.
Many of those not attending prayers were out in the streets looking for whatever food they could find for their families living in makeshift camps across the war-ravaged territory.
"I wish the planes would bomb me and I die," said Zaki Hussein Abu Mansur, once the proud owner of a house he had built for his family in Khan Yunis-where Israeli forces are engaged in a sweeping ground operation against Hamas.
"It is better to die than live this life," the 63-year-old told AFP. "Sometimes we see that the things that we need are in the market but we can't buy them."
Deprivation is normal in Gaza this Ramadan. Markets in Rafah are short on food items and few stores have qatayef, a dessert traditionally sold during Ramadan.
The bright lights and decorations that usually adorn streets during the fasting month are glaringly absent, though some stalls display Ramadan lanterns.
Hezbollah fires over 100
rockets into Israel
Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had fired more than 100 Katyusha rockets at several Israeli military posts in response to Israeli shelling of the Bekaa region the previous night.
At least one civilian was killed and several others were injured after Israel launched four strikes on the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, two security sources and the Baalbek governor, Bashir Khader, told Reuters.
One of the strikes hit the southern entrance of Baalbek, the security sources said. The three other strikes hit near the city of Taraya, 20 km (12.4 miles) west of Baalbek, they added.
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