It has been over a year and a half since Hussam Abu Safiya’s family last saw the Gaza doctor.
The 52-year-old pediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital has been held in Israeli custody without charge since December 2024, sparking concern from human rights groups, colleagues, and family members who fear for his well-being.
In June, Abu Safiya appeared via video link for a Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem, where he looked noticeably weaker and thinner in the face and abdomen.
“The photo shocked our entire family. We were deeply concerned. We did not anticipate my brother to be in such a state,” said Samahir Abu Safiya, Hussam’s sister.
Abu Safiya is one of at least 14 doctors from Gaza detained in Israel without trial for more than a year, as reported by Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Various organizations, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, have called for his immediate release, along with other health-care workers held arbitrarily.
Human rights groups are petitioning Israel to release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza. He’s been held without charge since December 2024, with Israel Defence Forces claiming he’s ‘suspected of involvement in terrorist activities,’ which his family and Gaza’s Health Ministry deny.
During a visit to Abu Safiya on July 2, his lawyer Nasser Odeh reported that Abu Safiya had been subjected to daily beatings at the underground detention facility Rakevet, beneath the Ayalon prison complex in central Israel.
Odeh witnessed fresh bruises and torture marks on Abu Safiya’s body, leaving him barely recognizable. Abu Safiya, shackled at his hands and feet during the meeting, appeared frail and close to fainting, according to Odeh.
Abu Safiya expressed his fear to Odeh, saying, “This is the last time you’ll see me… they brought me here to kill me.”
CBC News reached out to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) for comment, but has not received a response.
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UN inquiry urges release of Gaza hospital chief held by Israel since December 2024
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