Gaza doctor held without charge for 18 months fears he will die in Israeli custody

Detention and deteriorating health

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been held without charge or trial since 27 December 2024. He was arrested while on duty at his besieged hospital in Beit Lahia, which Israeli forces said was a Hamas stronghold. His health has declined sharply in recent months. After a visit by his lawyer on 2 July 2026, Abu Safiya said he expected to die before the next meeting.

This is the last time you'll see me... they brought me here to kill me.

Lawyer's account of abuse

Nasser Odeh, a lawyer for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, visited Abu Safiya at the Rakefet detention facility on 2 July. He told the BBC that his client was so badly beaten he could not recognise him. Abu Safiya said more than five prison guards assaulted him with hands, batons and hammers after an appeal against his detention was heard at the Supreme Court in June. He had received no medical treatment.

I had difficulty recognising his features. Bruises covered his face, around his eyes, on his neck, and on his ears. Signs of beatings and torture were clearly visible on his face.

Odeh described Abu Safiya as weak, on the verge of losing consciousness, and shackled. The Israel Prison Service rejected the account as false.

International calls for release

Amnesty International has demanded the immediate release of Abu Safiya, calling his treatment unconscionable. Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director at Amnesty, said expressions of concern alone were a cynical fig leaf for state inaction. The organisation, along with Abu Safiya's family, has urged urgent intervention to save his life.

It is unconscionable that a paediatrician, who has dedicated his life to saving others in the occupied Gaza Strip, is being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

His son, Elias, said his father was living through critical moments between life and death.

Legal proceedings

Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the government to respond by 7 July to a petition calling for the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors from Gaza held without charge. The petition follows an appeal against his detention last month. Abu Safiya was first allowed to meet a lawyer on 11 February 2025, over a year after his arrest.

Background

Abu Safiya rose to prominence by posting about dire conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital during Israeli military operations. The UN described the area as under near total siege. When he was detained, images showed him walking towards an Israeli armoured vehicle in his white coat. The World Health Organization called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza.