Israeli forces arrest Palestinian ‘doctor of the poor’

Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank , prompting widespread condemnation. Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested before dawn at his home in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah. He was later taken to the police station in the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where he is believed to be under interrogation by the Special Investigations Unit. Israeli authorities have not said why he was detained or where he is currently being held. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , the arrest is believed to be connected to Al-Rantisi’s position as chair of the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian non-profit founded in 1985 that operates clinics serving thousands of patients each year, particularly in rural communities with limited access to healthcare. The organisation was declared an “unlawful association” by the Israeli military in 2020 under emergency regulations dating back to the British Mandate for Palestine . Two years later, Israeli forces shut its headquarters in Al-Bireh. Despite those measures, the group remains legally registered with the Palestinian Authority’s interior ministry. News of Al-Rantisi’s detention spread rapidly across the occupied West Bank, with an outpouring of support on social media. …