Reported to be held in the notorious Sde Teiman prison

An Edinburgh charity worker has been imprisoned in a notorious Israeli prison after being arrested by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Mohammad el Sharif is a child psychotherapist working for Firefly International who was lifted by the IDF while in Gaza. He is also the director of a child mental health clinic in Gaza.

It has been reported he is being held in the notorious Sde Teiman prison.

El Sharif and family were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint, who separated the women and children on one side of the road, put the men on the other, then took all the men away.

As the ceasefire commences, it is not known when all the people detained during Israel’s onslaught on Gaza will be released.

Despite being displaced several times, he had managed to keep contact with Firefly staff until he was picked up by the IDF on November 27.

He has no links with Hamas and staff at Firefly International, which supports children affected by the ravages of war, are still “desperately concerned” about his welfare.

Director Jane Salmonson said: “It is difficult to sleep at night thinking of my former colleague, a child psychotherapist who has been incarcerated at Sde Teiman since November, being tortured, abused and starved.

“The only hope I can cling on to is that Mohammad and all other detainees will be released. The sheer scale, extent and depth of the cruelty inflicted on the Palestinian people, including children, in this conflict, is beyond belief.”

Sde Teiman, an Israeli military base which is being used as a detention centre for Palestinians, has been condemned internationally for alleged torture and gang rape of detainees, including children and health workers.

Prisoner testimonies of widespread human rights violations have been corroborated by Israeli whistleblowers and an investigation by CNN. Leaked CCTV footage has shown one gang rape of a Palestinian by Israeli soldiers.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Unlawful Combatants, Alice Jill Edwards, has called for an investigation into conditions at the prison and treatment of detainees.