A SCOTTISH aid charity yesterday expressed fears for one of its workers being held in an Israeli prison.
Mohammad el Sharif, who works for Edinburgh based Firefly International, has not been heard of since his arrest in Gaza by Israeli forces last November.
The father of three, who is a psychotherapist, had been helping kids cope with the trauma of the conflict in which thousands of Palestinians have died.
He is believed to be in the notorious Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel.
Firefly director Jane Salmonson said yesterday: “His family haven’t heard a thing since last November.
“We are all desperately worried.”
Mohammad and his family were stopped by soldiers while walking to safety from Gaza City after the trauma clinic and his own father’s home were bombed. The men were taken away and it was the last anyone saw of him.
Jane added: “He will have been interrogated to see if he has links to Hamas even though he has none. They will want to prove people they are arresting like Mohammad are Hamas operatives.
“Mohammad’s only interest was the wellbeing of the children he treats, not politics or war.
“We are desperately worried that he will not survive his incarceration.
“He is one of an estimated 20,000 Palestinian men who have disappeared with no further trace from Gaza.”
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