Hussam Abu Safiya, Gaza Hospital Director, Faces Life‑Threatening Health Decline in Israeli Detention

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was arrested by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024 and held without charge under Israel’s “unlawful combatant” designation. He was moved to solitary confinement at Nitzan prison and later to the high‑security underground Rakefet sector. During a lawyer‑led visit on 2 July, Nasser Odeh documented fresh bruises and severe injuries to Abu Safiya’s head, eyes, ears and neck, noted extreme weight loss, difficulty breathing, repeated loss of consciousness, and observed that he could barely sit upright or speak. The lawyer told the doctor’s son, Elyas, “they brought me here to kill me,” and the son reported that his father “was unable to breathe” and “was unable to speak.” Rights organisations – Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Doctors for Human Rights, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention – warned that his life is in immediate danger and called for his urgent release and access to medical care. The UN body labeled the detention “arbitrary” and demanded compensation. Israeli prison authorities deny the allegations of abuse. The case has drawn international attention amid broader accusations of systematic mistreatment of Palestinian medical staff in the Gaza conflict.