Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected two petitions seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors, including hospital directors and specialists.
The organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) announced on Wednesday that the Supreme Court had rejected two separate appeals seeking the release of 14 doctors from Gaza. The 14 physicians are hospital directors and specialists whose work is vital to a health system that has collapsed under Israeli attacks and blockade.
In a statement, the organization said that holding them without charge or trial violates their rights and deprives patients in Gaza of essential medical services at a time of severe shortages of health personnel. The territory’s health sector faces a severe shortage of staff and steady deterioration under Israeli attacks and occupation.
RELATED: Activists Seek ICC Arrest Warrants for Trump, Rubio Over Gaza Devastation
“The Supreme Court refused to release 14 doctors, among them hospital directors and medical specialists. They are being held in Israeli prisons without being charged or brought to trial,” the group denounced in a statement.
Naji Abbas, a lawyer with PHRI, said both rulings reflect the scale of the violations faced by Palestinian doctors held in Israel and show the failure of the Israeli judiciary to protect their rights. PHRI said the Supreme Court found no grounds to intervene in the military chief of staff’s decision to keep the doctors in detention.
Israeli courts have rejected appeals to release 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza held without charge or trial, while also denying Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, an independent medical examination despite alarming health concerns.
According to… pic.twitter.com/bCo6vRbfhK
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 11, 2026
Held Without Trial
Among those held is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was detained by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has been in custody for almost 23 months. He remains in detention without charge under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows prolonged detention based on alleged “intelligence information” and “classified evidence” that the detainee and his lawyer cannot see. Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an earlier appeal by Abu Safiya in June, ruling on confidential materials.
PHRI reported that the court denied Abu Safia adequate medical care despite “concerning indications in his medical record.” According to the reports, his weight fell from 90 kilograms to 76 kilograms between January and May 2025. By July 2026, records from the Israeli prison service documented bruising around his left eye, dizziness and pain in his ribs.
In August, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office denounced that jailers were beating and torturing the doctor. The Lod District Court also rejected his request for an independent medical examination and a second opinion, despite what PHRI called serious health problems.
The case has drawn international attention. U.S. lawmakers and UN experts have called for his release, and Israel has repeatedly rejected appeals.
The 14 doctors are among nearly 400 health workers detained by Israel during the incursion in Gaza. More than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, where human rights organizations report systematic medical neglect, torture and hunger.
PHRI emphasized that detaining health workers deprives Palestinians of timely medical care and worsens the shortage of doctors. Those detentions obstruct the fundamental right to health care just as Gaza’s medical system collapses under Israeli attacks and blockade.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the detained director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been awarded the 2026 Arab Doctor Award in the “Medicine of Resilience” category by the Council of Arab Health Ministers.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan accepted the award on his… pic.twitter.com/Z9BeZR5UTe
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 11, 2026
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.