Key facts
- Dr. Mazen Al-Rantisi, a 71-year-old Palestinian physician, was arrested by Israeli forces.
- The arrest occurred during a pre-dawn raid on his home in Ramallah.
- Al-Rantisi is known for providing medical care to low-income Palestinians and often waived consultation fees.
- His detention is believed to be connected to his position as chair of the Union of Health Work Committees, an organization declared an 'unlawful association' by Israel in 2020.
- Physicians for Human Rights Israel stated the arrest is an alarming escalation against Palestinian civil society and will disrupt access to medical care.
Israeli forces arrested prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician Dr. Mazen Al-Rantisi in a pre-dawn raid on his home in Ramallah on Sunday. Known as the "doctor of the poor" for his work with low-income Palestinians, Al-Rantisi frequently waived consultation fees and provided medicine to those unable to afford it.
His detention is believed by Israeli newspaper Haaretz to be connected to his role as chair of the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian non-profit established in 1985 that operates clinics, particularly in underserved rural areas. The Israeli military declared the organization an "unlawful association" in 2020 and shut its headquarters two years later, though it remains registered with the Palestinian Authority.
News of Al-Rantisi's arrest sparked widespread condemnation and an online solidarity campaign. Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), described the arrest as an "alarming escalation in Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian civil society" and stated that it blurs the lines between security measures and the criminalization of humanitarian work. PHRI added that his detention will disrupt medical care for hundreds of patients who depend on his clinic.
Israeli authorities have not provided a reason for the detention or confirmed his current location, though he is believed to be undergoing interrogation. The Israeli military referred questions to the Israel Prison Service, which in turn referred them back to the military. Data from the UN indicates that at least 1,100 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank since 2020, with no charges filed in these cases. According to B'Tselem, as of March 2026, approximately 9,446 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 4,691 under administrative detention without charge.