Global pressure mounts for release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Gaza hospital director

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the paediatrician who directed Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been held by Israeli authorities since December 2024 without charge or trial. Multiple reports describe his severe health decline, including extreme weight loss, injuries from alleged beatings, and lack of medical care, leading human‑rights groups to label his detention as arbitrary and abusive.

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, UN rights experts, and the World Health Organization have voiced grave concern over credible reports that Dr. Abu Safiya has been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. The UN Commission called for his immediate, unconditional release and for independent medical assessment. Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Amnesty International, and other NGOs have filed petitions to Israel’s Supreme Court and appealed to the Israeli Medical Association and the World Medical Association to intervene.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva maintains that his detention is “lawful” based on “concrete intelligence” and denies any life‑threatening condition, accusing him of being a Hamas operative. Several foreign governments, including Turkey, France, and the United States, have joined calls for his release, urging Israel to respect medical‑ethics standards and international humanitarian law.