The 71-year-old Palestinian doctor, Mazen al-Rantisi, known as the "Doctor of the Poor," was arrested at his home in the al-Tira neighborhood of Ramallah early Sunday morning, June 21, 2026 by Israeli border police, without informing his family of the reasons for his arrest.

According to Haaretz, Rantisi was taken for questioning to the Central Investigations Unit at the Ma'ale Adumim police station. His case, the newspaper reports, is related to his role as head of the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian health organization that provides services to thousands of patients annually, particularly in villages and remote areas.

Israel says the organization has been designated an "unauthorized association" since 2020, based on accusations of its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The organization has repeatedly denied these accusations, asserting that its activities are limited to health work and community services.

Dr. Rantisi's wife, Maria Soledad, recounted the details of the arrest to the newspaper, stating that masked police and border guards stormed their home around 3:00 AM before taking Rantisi from his bedroom. At the same time, the organization's accountant was arrested, and its Ramallah office was closed by military order.

Dr. Rantisi is one of the most renowned doctors in the Ramallah area, having worked as a family physician for over four decades. He was known for his accurate diagnoses and for providing treatment at nominal prices. He charged only about 30 shekels from patients who could afford it, while treating those who couldn't for free. He also often provided medication to those in need at his own expense.

In recent years, he has become a refuge for low-income patients, especially with the decline in public health services due to the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis. As head of the Health Work Committee, he has continued to oversee the fixed and mobile clinics that provide services in remote Palestinian villages and communities.

The news of his arrest sparked widespread reactions among Palestinians, who shared dozens of stories on social media about his medical and humanitarian work, considering his arrest an attack on one of the most prominent and influential medical figures in Palestinian society in recent decades. [The Arab World, June 24, 2026]

Dr. Rantisi was my doctor when I lived in the West Bank. I join the many who can attest to his kindness, his generosity, and his skill. 

Mazen Rantisi often waives consultation fees for low-income Palestinians. He was arrested at home on June 21 and indicted for serving as chairman of the board of the Union of Health Work Committees. The committee is a nonprofit that provides medical care to thousands of Palestinians each year.

According to testimony he gave to an attorney from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Rantisi said that prison authorities withheld his regular medication for the first 10 days of his detention in Ofer prison and continue to deny him one of his prescribed medicines.

He said repeated requests to see a doctor were ignored, with a medic checking his pulse only once through a small opening in his cell door.

Rantisi also alleged routine violence by prison guards, saying prison units had raided his cell several times a week and beat detainees.

“The younger prisoners surround me to protect me, taking the beatings themselves,” he said.

He added that guards sprayed tear gas into the cell during one raid, which left him struggling to breathe.

Saja Mishraki-Baransa, the first lawyer to meet Rantisi in person since his arrest, told Haaretz that the physician had lost a significant amount of weight since his arrest.

Rantisi said he receives small food portions — which he described as unfit for human consumption — including moldy bread, almost rotten tomatoes and foul-smelling rice.

He added that 10 prisoners share his six-bed cell, forcing four detainees to sleep in shifts on mattresses on the floor. He described poor hygiene conditions, saying prisoners receive no cleaning supplies and share a single bar of soap to wash themselves and their clothes. He added that guards take the mattresses out and hose them down, breeding mold. The overcrowded cell is infested with pests like fleas and gnats, Rantisi said.

The Israel Prison Service rejected the allegations, saying detainees are held in accordance with Israeli law.

Rantisi’s account echoes complaints raised by other Palestinian detainees. A report by Israel’s Public Defender’s Office published last year warned of a “significant deterioration” in prison conditions amid an “unprecedented violation of the rights of detainees and prisoners.”

This petition will show Israel that it is losing yet more Americans, as fewer and fewer are willing to sit in silence as Israel destroys Palestinians and steals their lands.