On Feb. 15, Israel Defense Forces raided the Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, one of the few in the Gaza Strip that was still functioning at the time.
The BBC received footage secretly filmed in the hospital when the medics were detained on Feb. 16.
It shows a row of men, stripped down to their underwear, kneeling with their hands bound behind their heads outside the emergency department.
Over several weeks, the BBC conducted investigations into the incident, interviewing a range of hospital staff and displaced individuals residing in the hospital’s courtyard, and corroborating the details of the accounts.
Dr. Ahmed Abu Sabha, a hospital doctor, described being taken to the location, which he likened to “a torture place.”
He said: “They put me on a chair, and it was like a gallows. I heard sounds of ropes, so I thought I was going to be executed.
“After that they broke a bottle and it (the glass) cut my leg and they left it to bleed. Then they started bringing doctor after doctor in and started putting them next to each other. I was hearing their names and their voices.”
Abu Sabha added that he spent a week in detention. His account closely resembled that of two other medics who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions.
All three detainees interviewed by the BBC said that they were crammed into military vehicles and beaten while being transported in large groups. Soldiers beat them with sticks, hoses, rifle buttstocks, and fists, they added.
One of the medics who wished to remain anonymous said: “We were naked. Just wearing boxers. They piled us on top of each other. And they took us out of Gaza. All along the way we were being hit and sworn at and humiliated. And they poured cold water on us.”
Abu Sabha said: “They took us to a patch of ground covered in gravel, forced us to kneel down, and our eyes were blindfolded. There was a pit in the ground, and we thought they would execute us and bury us here. We all started prayers.”
The two other detainees who were released claimed that they were given medical checks but no medication at some point. One claimed that instead of receiving treatment for an injury, an IDF soldier struck him where he was injured.
Abu Sabha told the BBC the men were routinely punished for “infractions.” He said: “At one point, the blindfold moved down a bit and my hands were handcuffed from behind and I could not fix it.
“They took me out for punishment. I was standing with my hands raised above my head and my face looking down for three hours.
Then, he (a soldier) asked me to come to him. When I did, he kept hitting my hand until it was broken.”
He was later taken to the toilet, beaten, and had muzzled dogs set on him.
The next day, an Israeli doctor fitted him with a cast, which soldiers then drew a Star of David on, he added. The cast was later changed by a doctor in Gaza, and Ahmed wore it during his BBC interview.
The BBC verified that after his capture, Abu Sabha had an X-ray and received treatment for a broken hand at a field hospital in Gaza, where he arrived in a cast with a Star of David drawn on it.
None of the medics were formally charged, though interrogation seemed to center on the potential presence of hostages or Hamas militants within the hospital premises.
One of the released detainees claimed that two days after being interrogated, IDF officers informed him that there was no evidence, and he would be released.
“I asked him, ‘who will compensate me for all the beatings and humiliation I’ve been through, that you did to me, while I knew that I wasn’t involved in anything?’ He started muttering, ‘I don’t have anything on you. No charges.’”
Abu Sabha told the BBC he was never interrogated during his eight days of detention.
The three medics we spoke with said they were blindfolded and transported back to Gaza after being released.
According to a humanitarian law expert, the footage and testimony of the medical staff interviewed by the BBC were “extremely concerning.” He said that some of the accounts provided to the BBC “very clearly cross over into the category of cruel and inhumane treatment.”
Dr. Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, co-director of the University of Bristol’s Centre for International Law, said: “It goes against what has for a long time been a very fundamental idea in the law that applies in armed conflict, which is that hospitals and medical staff are protected.”
An expert in humanitarian law said the footage and the testimony from the medical staff interviewed by the BBC was "extremely concerning". He said some of the accounts provided to the BBC "very clearly cross over into the category of cruel and inhumane treatment".
Dr Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, co-director of the Centre for International Law at the University of Bristol, said: "It goes against what has for a long time been a very fundamental idea in the law that applies in armed conflict, which is that hospitals and medical staff are protected."
"The fact that they treat nationals of the enemy side should not in any way undermine their protection," he said.
The BBC has been investigating the hospital's story for several weeks, speaking to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and displaced people camping in the courtyard. We have cross-checked details in these accounts.
We were given the names of 49 Nasser medical personnel said to have been detained. Of those, 26 were named by multiple sources, including medics on the ground, the Hamas-run health ministry, international groups, and the families of those missing.
The three medics who say they were detained and later released have not given their accounts publicly before. They include Dr Abu Sabha, who we interviewed twice. His story remained consistent, and we corroborated key parts of his account independently.
Families of five other medics at the hospital have told the BBC their loved ones are missing. In addition, the International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed to the BBC that it has received dozens of phone calls from people who say family members, including medics, who were at Nasser, are now missing.
Medics who remained at Nasser say the IDF's operation at the hospital left them unable to care for patients. When the IDF took control, nearly 200 patients were being treated there, many of them "bedridden", including six inside the ICU, according to Dr Hout, the general manager.
Those staff allowed to remain have described being ordered to move seriously ill patients between buildings, being taken away from their duties to be interrogated, and assigned patients whose cases they were not trained to deal with, all as they worked in cramped, unsanitary conditions.
Multiple medics said that 13 patients died in the days after Israel's takeover.
They said many of those patients had died because of the conditions at the hospital, including a lack of electricity, water, and other essentials needed to keep Nasser running. We cannot independently verify this. A doctor shared photos of bodies in bags on beds that we have confirmed were taken in a ward at the hospital.
The IDF told the BBC that it had "provided the hospital with hundreds of food rations and an alternative generator that enabled it to continue functioning and treat the patients within it".
The "essential systems" of the hospital kept functioning during the IDF's operation on an uninterruptible power supply system, it said.
On 18 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the hospital was short of food and basic medical supplies, and had ceased to function. The remaining patients were sent to other hospitals around Gaza and the medical staff who worked there left shortly afterwards.
Doctor: 'I thought I was going to be executed'
Released detainees and other medics told the BBC that the maternity building, called Mubarak, became the place where the IDF interrogated and beat staff. Dr Abu Sabha said he was initially picked to stay with patients after the raid, but was later taken to Mubarak, which he said had become "more like a torture place".
"They put me on a chair and it was like a gallows," he said. "I heard sounds of ropes, so I thought I was going to be executed.
"After that they broke a bottle and it [the glass] cut my leg and they left it to bleed. Then they started bringing doctor after doctor in and started putting them next to each other. I was hearing their names and their voices."
The IDF told the BBC it "does not and has not carried out mock executions of detainees, and rejects such claims".
Graphic showing parts of Nasser Hospital Complex in Khan Younis where medics say they were detained and interrogated by Israeli forces
All three of the detainees the BBC spoke to said they were crammed onto military vehicles and beaten as they were transported in a large group. Soldiers beat them with sticks, hoses, rifle butts and fists, they said.
"We were naked. Just wearing boxers. They piled us on top of each other. And they took us out of Gaza," one of the medics who wanted to remain anonymous said. "All along the way we were being hit and sworn at and humiliated. And they poured cold water on us".
Dr Abu Sabha said that during the journey, soldiers took the detainees out of the vehicle. "They took us to a patch of ground covered in gravel, forced us to kneel down and our eyes blind-folded… There was a pit in the ground, and we thought they would execute us and bury us here. We all started prayers."
He was then driven to a building where he and the other detainees with him would be held, he said.
The two other released detainees said that at some stage they were given medical checks but no medication. One said that instead of getting treatment for an injury, an IDF soldier hit him where he was injured.
Dr Abu Sabha told the BBC that detainees were routinely punished for perceived infractions. "At one point, the blindfold moved down a bit and my hands were handcuffed from behind and I could not fix it.
"They took me out for punishment… I was standing with my hands raised above my head and my face looking down for three hours. Then, he [a soldier] asked me to come to him. When I did, he kept hitting my hand until it was broken."
Later that day, he was taken to the toilet, beaten, and had muzzled dogs set on him, he said.
The day after, an Israeli doctor fitted him with a cast and then soldiers drew a Star of David on it, he said. This cast was later changed by a doctor in Gaza and Ahmed was wearing a cast during his interview with the BBC.
The BBC confirmed that Dr Abu Sabha had an X-ray and sought treatment for a broken hand at a field hospital in Gaza after his detention, and that he arrived there in a cast with a Star of David drawn on it.
The IDF did not address the BBC's questions about Dr Abu Sahba's cast.
None of the three medics were made aware of any specific charges, but two said interrogations focused on whether they had seen hostages or Hamas fighters within the hospital.
They said they were also asked about their whereabouts on 7 October, when Hamas gunmen rampaged from Gaza into Israel and killed about 1,200 people, taking 253 others hostage. More than 130 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas. Israeli officials have said at least 30 of them are dead.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 31,000 people have been killed in Israel's retaliatory air strikes and its ongoing ground offensive.
One of the released detainees said that two days after being interrogated, IDF officers told him there was no evidence and he would be released.
"I asked him, 'Who will compensate me for all the beatings and humiliation I've been through, that you did to me, while I knew that I wasn't involved in anything?' He started muttering, 'I don't have anything on you. No charges.'"
Dr Abu Sabha told the BBC he was never interrogated during his eight days of detention.
The three medics we spoke to say they were transported back to Gaza blindfolded after their release.
The BBC has confirmed Dr Abu Sabha's account that he crossed back into Gaza at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, which is near the southernmost point of the Strip where Gaza, Israel and Egypt meet.
The medics' accounts are at odds with a separate briefing given to the BBC by a senior IDF official who said that no arrests were made of medical staff at Nasser, "unless we knew that it was possible to get this or that intelligence information" from them.
"We had reasonable grounds to assume that they have information, so we took them in for questioning and interrogation, but not beyond that," the official said.
"There were no handcuffs, we did not take them away for interrogation, nor for advanced arrest, but for the purpose of questioning and trying to obtain information about the hostages or the Hamas commanders who were in the hospital… a very simple questioning and that's it."
Some hostages taken from Israel on 7 October have described being brought into the Nasser hospital complex in an ambulance. One released hostage said her husband - who remains in Gaza - was covered in a sheet to look like a corpse.
They have described being kept in small rooms and being forced to knock if they needed to go to the toilet. One has described her time in captivity as "psychological warfare".
Israel Defense Forces say evidence of Hamas using Nasser hospital includes weapons, medicines for hostages and a vehicle that had been used in the 7 October attacks
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that since 7 October, Israel has suspended its detention visits, meaning it has not been able to visit any detainees.
It told the BBC it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of arrests and ongoing detention of medics.
"Wherever and whoever they may be, detainees need to be treated humanely and with dignity at all times, in accordance of international humanitarian law," it said.
"The ICRC has continuously called for, and is ready to immediately resume, detention visits in order to monitor the treatment of detainees and the conditions of detention."
An internal UN report seen by the BBC has described widespread abuse of Palestinians who have been captured and interrogated at makeshift Israeli detention centres since the war began, which are similar to the accounts the medics gave. The IDF has previously denied specific allegations in the UN report, including the denial of access to water, medical care and bedding.
Meanwhile, in Nasser hospital, a few medics were allowed to stay and care for the remaining patients.
Some patients had been detained during the raid, according to Dr Hout, the general manager.
In one video provided to us by a Nasser eyewitness, IDF soldiers wheel two hospital beds and the occupants' hands are hoisted above their heads, zip-tied. We have verified it is authentic.
In separate footage published by the IDF, people can be seen lying on beds in the hospital grounds with their hands zip-tied, their arms in a similar raised position. We do not know who these people are, or what happened to them after this footage.
The IDF said: "We emphasize that the hands of patients who were not suspected of involvement in terrorism were not tied."
Still images from two videos showing patients with hands tied. One video was from the IDF, the other was filmed from inside the hospital
Medics who remained were frightened of being shot if they defied orders not to leave the building, Dr Hatim Rabaa, who also worked at Nasser, told the BBC in a phone call on 22 February, as explosions sounded in the background. But nevertheless they went down to the yard to collect water, worrying that patients would otherwise die, he said.
"People were dying of thirst. On my shoulders I carried three gallons of water so that I can make people drink. What else could I do?"
Multiple medics said that the IDF would not grant them permission to bury or even move the bodies of patients who died in the aftermath of the operation. The bodies remained inside with staff and patients as they began to decompose, the medics said.
"The smell filled the whole department," Dr Rabaa said. "Patients were screaming 'please remove them from here'. I was telling them 'it isn't in my hands'."
Dr Rabaa was one of a small group of medics chosen to remain with patients. He said that he too had been stripped to his underwear and made to kneel in front of the emergency department - but he was then led away to the building where patients were kept.
He said he does not know what happened to his colleagues he left behind in the courtyard.
The BBC put detailed questions about the allegations to the Israeli military.
In its response, the IDF told the BBC that "about 200 terrorists and suspects of terrorist activity were detained, including some who posed as medical teams". They said that "many weapons were found, as well as closed medicines intended for Israeli hostages".
They said they had operated in a "precise and focused manner, creating minimal damage to the hospital's ongoing activity, and without harming the patients or the medical staff".
