On December 27, 2024, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) set fire to Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and proceeded to abduct its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. The pediatrician has now spent a year in Israeli prisons, amid consistent reports of abuse, violence, and torture.
“His only ‘crime’ was taking care of patients in his hospital until the final moments before Israel abducted him,” CODEPINK wrote in an appeal. “He remains in Israeli detention – alongside hundreds of other medical workers abducted from Gaza – subjected to the kind of violence that should be condemned universally.”
Over the past year, Dr. Abu Safiya has reportedly been held at both Sde Teiman concentration camp and Ofer prison, while Israeli authorities have largely refused to disclose his whereabouts or share updates on his wellbeing. His lawyers have only been able to meet with him sporadically, each time reporting further deterioration in his health and clear signs of torture. In September, his lawyer Ghaid Qassem described how the doctor was suffering from severe skin conditions and had lost a significant amount of weight. Dr. Abu Safiya and other prisoners were in “dire need of dermatologists and medicines to treat widespread skin diseases and infections,” Qassem warned.
Read more: Israeli destruction of Gaza’s healthcare is a blueprint for future imperialist wars
Dr. Abu Safiya’s imprisonment has drawn widespread international condemnation, particularly given his role in documenting Israel’s systematic attacks on Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure and exposing targeting during the genocide. Calls for his release have been issued repeatedly, yet Israeli authorities have ignored them.
On several occasions since his abduction, Dr. Abu Safiya’s name was also included on lists of prisoners proposed for release as part of prisoner–captive exchanges and, later, under the terms of the so-called ceasefire. None of these announcements resulted in his freedom. Instead, just days after Israeli authorities indicated in October that he could be released under ceasefire conditions, his administrative detention was extended for another six months.
The pediatrician’s case reflects a broader, deliberate campaign against Palestinian healthcare, human rights organizations continue to emphasize. “Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention highlights a broader pattern of targeting Palestinian healthcare workers,” Amnesty International stated. “Hundreds have been arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, or subjected to torture without charge or trial.”
Health workers released from Israeli detention back these claims. Dr. Ahmed Muhanna of Al-Awda Hospital, released in mid-October after more than 600 days in custody, told Healthcare Workers Watch that doctors are routinely singled out by guards, treated with particular brutality, and prevented from helping other prisoners.
Read more: Dr. Ahmed Muhanna of Gaza’s Al-Awda Hospital released after 665 days of illegal imprisonment
Gaza’s healthcare system remains largely nonfunctional as a result of Israel’s genocide since 2023. Hospital workers recently told Medical Aid for Palestinians that facilities lack everything from staff to medicines and cleaning supplies, leaving roughly two million people at high risk of infection and untreated chronic illness. In this context, securing the immediate release of detained Palestinian health workers, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, remains a matter of urgency.
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