The Israeli occupation’s Supreme Court has rejected Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s appeal against the extension of his detention. No criminal charges have been brought against him.
Dr Abu Safiya has spent more than 500 days under arbitrary detention
Dr Abu Safiya is a Palestinian paediatrician and the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, in Beit Lahia, Northern Gaza. He was intentionally targeted by the occupation. He was a key source of information on the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, consistently providing updates on medical conditions in North Gaza. This was especially true after Israeli occupation forces imposed a siege on the governorate in October 2024.
Despite the loss of his son in October 2024, Dr Abu Safiya continued his work, caring for injured children and documenting the realities faced by healthcare workers and patients in the area. He has been arbitrarily detained since December 2024, when he was abducted by Israeli occupation forces along with other medical staff while on duty, after refusing to abandon his patients.
Israeli occupation tortures Gaza paediatrician
Abu Safiya has suffered ongoing torture and neglect since being detained, and by January 2026, he had lost 40kg because of prolonged food deprivation.
Today, according to his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, Dr Abu Safiya is held in solitary confinement in Nafha Prison. Conditions are degrading and harsh, and his health is deteriorating. He is suffering torture and is showing signs of scabies — a highly contagious skin disease. But he continues to be denied the necessary medical care since his arrest, and his detention files remain secret.
The first image of Abu Safiya since his illegal imprisonment by the Israeli occupation emerged on 10 June. He appeared in Jerusalem’s Supreme Court, via video link. He was shackled and handcuffed, and appeared exhausted, with visible signs of mistreatment and torture.
After his hearing, on 10 June, Abu Safiya said:
I am a paediatrician. I provide medical service and care to patients, the injured, and the vulnerable in the Gaza Strip. I carried out my work in accordance with international law and humanitarian standards. My arrest is unjust and arbitrary, and I demand that the court release me immediately.
Dr Abu Safiya’s continued detention “A profound moral and legal failure”
Abu Safiya remains imprisoned under the “Unlawful Combatant’s Law”, which grants the Israeli occupation’s military sweeping powers. They can detain anyone from Gaza they claim to suspect of engagement in hostilities against “Israel” or who pose a threat to state “security”. Detention is for indefinitely renewable detention periods and no evidence needs to be produced to back up the claims.
The decision to continue his detention has been condemned by a multitude of human rights organisations.
Naji Abbas, Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel has called Abu Safiya’s continued detention a “profound moral and legal failure.” He said:
Dr Abu Safiya’s case is not an isolated one. It illustrates how judicial review proceedings for Palestinian detainees from Gaza have, in practice, become little more than a procedural formality. Every month, hundreds of detention review hearings take place, yet to the best of our knowledge, they have not resulted in the meaningful reconsideration or revocation of detention orders.
‘Israel’s’ treatment of Gaza’s medical workers is illegal under international law
The Palestinian Centre for Prisoners Advocacy is calling for Dr Safiya’s immediate release, and an end to the arbitrary detention of medical and humanitarian personnel by “Israel”. The organisation says it holds the Israeli occupation authorities “fully responsible” for his life and safety.
Doctors and medical personnel have legally binding protections under the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law. These rules state that medical professionals must be protected in all circumstances. They must also be allowed to treat anyone without discrimination, and never punished for following medical ethics.
Gaza’s healthcare system has been intentionally destroyed by the Israeli occupation, and is at the point of collapse. And the continued detention of Gaza’s doctors such as Abu Safiya, who have no formal charges, prevents any steps towards recovery.
Not unusual — ‘Israel’ has detained and killed scores of medical workers
Since 7 October, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have:
- killed more than 1570 healthcare workers
- More than 445 healthcare workers have been unlawfully detained
- killed 6 healthcare workers while in detention, and their bodies are being withheld.
5 healthcare workers have also disappeared since 7 October 2023.
Featured image via Amnesty
By Charlie Jaay
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