Dr. Abu Safiya

Samantha Staudte on flickr | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

DR ABU SAFIYA - Grave Concerns for the Safety of Detained Palestinian Paediatrician

Discover the ongoing struggle for medical workers in Palestine and the dire conditions that await them in Israeli detention. Our guide offers you in-depth information on Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, medicide in Gaza, and the critical collapse of healthcare facilities under siege.

Dr Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been an outspoken advocate against the deliberate destruction of healthcare infrastructure, daily military operations, and the blockade restricting life-saving supplies. Detained without charge by Israeli forces since late 2024, reports of severe abuse and denial of medical care have left him with life-threatening injuries, prompting urgent warnings from Gaza’s Ministry of Health and global health bodies.

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General Information

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is a prominent Palestinian paediatrician who has gained international recognition for his work at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Northern Gaza. Here, he was responsible for managing neonatal intensive care units under the most extreme resource constraints and threat of bombing.

Despite the loss of his son, who was killed during military operations in the area, multiple detentions, and injuries sustained during bombardments, Dr Safiya kept the hospital operational through an 85-day siege.

His hospital was one of the few remaining medical facilities providing pediatric and emergency care in northern Gaza. It has faced severe damage, repeated military raids, and operational shutdowns during the ongoing conflict. In December 2024, the hospital was raided and evacuated by Israeli forces and shut down, cutting off a vital lifeline in the region.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East | CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Dr Safiya frequently spoke to large international media outlets such as the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, and Reuters. He appealed for the protection of patients and staff and drew attention to the complete lack of medical resources and medicine. He also documented the ongoing military attacks on the hospital.

On December 27, 2024, during a raid of the hospital, Dr Safiya was detained alongside approximately 240 others. They were imprisoned without formal charges under the Unlawful Combatants' Law.

Israel alleges that the hospital was being used as a Hamas stronghold and claims that Dr Abu Safiya was working as an operative.

International human rights and medical humanitarian groups, such as the WHO and MSF, have celebrated the determination and courage displayed by Dr Safiya. As a prominent figure in Gaza, his detention and subsequent medical issues have propelled his plight to the international stage.

With fears mounting for his safety, the Gaza health chief has urged action to "save" Dr Abu Safia before it’s “too late”.

The issue of medicide in Gaza has also finally been brought to the attention of the world. Israel has stripped the population of healthcare, including vital infrastructure, medicines, and access to healthcare professionals. Medicide is a grave crime against humanity.

Flickr | Joe Catron

Detention & Reports of Abuse in Israeli Prisons

“It is utterly reprehensible that a doctor who refused to abandon his patients, and who became one of the most prominent voices denouncing the devastation of Gaza’s healthcare system, remains arbitrarily and unlawfully detained under Israel’s baseless designation as an unlawful combatant.” - Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that Dr Safiya had been taken to a detention centre to be interrogated due to his alleged connections with Hamas: an allegation which has been repeatedly denied by himself, his colleagues, and his family members.

The abusive Unlawful Combatants Law authorises indefinite renewable detention orders on anyone from Gaza who is suspected of posing a threat to national security. Detainees are held on classified evidence without formal charge.

Dr Safiya was initially taken to the Sde Teiman Military Detention Centre, where he reported being forcibly stripped, made to sit on sharp stones for around five hours, physical beatings, electric shocks, and repeated blows to his chest. He was held here in isolation for two weeks.

In January 2025, he was transferred to Ofer Military Prison in the occupied West Bank, where interrogations began. Here he was subjected to solitary confinement for 25 days and then endured daily brutal interrogations lasting up to 10 hours daily for multiple consecutive days.

It was around this time that Safiya attended a court hearing where his detention was extended. He was repeatedly denied a lawyer, and his family were not informed. The following month, after being granted access to his lawyer, reports came out of the serious decline of his health and also details of the abuse and torture he was made to endure.

In July 2025, his lawyer reported that he had lost over 40 kg and was struggling with multiple injuries sustained in regular beatings. Dr Safiya had made multiple requests for medical attention due to his heart condition, which were denied by Israeli authorities.

In June 2026, he was transferred to the infamous detention facility Rakevet. This is a deplorable underground section of the Ayalon prison complex whose detainees are mostly Palestinians. The centre was closed in 1985 for its inhumane conditions but later reopened following the outbreak of the Gaza War in 2023.

An appeal for his release was made in Israel’s Supreme Court on 16 June 2026. It was denied, and the court upheld his detention until at least October 2026.

Reports from various human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Frontline Defenders from 6 July 2026, reveal he is in critical condition. They described him as having trouble breathing and speaking, showing clear signs of fresh injuries and physical and psychological abuse.

Flickr | Hossam el-Hamalawy

International Reaction & Human Rights Response

Immediately following his arrest, there was much confusion about Dr Safiya’s location and whether he was even still alive. The WHO lost contact with him following the evacuation of his hospital. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO director general), Agnès Callamard (Amnesty International), the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the American Academy of Paediatrics all called for information about his whereabouts and demanded his immediate release.

By mid 2025, several rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, prepared a joint letter appealing for the release of all health care workers from Gaza and the West Bank who are detained by Israel.

With very little success, hopes are dwindling. A renewed effort was made in March 2026, when United Nations special rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Ben Saul made another call for Abu Safiya's immediate release. They made specific mention of his deteriorating health and referred to the Mandela Rules on the treatment of prisoners.

The UN has ruled his ongoing detention arbitrary and in violation of international law.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) describe Dr Safiya’s treatment as a "tangible and immediate danger to his life". They are calling for an urgent independent investigation.

On 8 August 2026, Gaza’s Ministry of Health issued an urgent appeal for intervention before it is simply too late.

Devastatingly, Dr Abu Safiya’s situation is not an isolated one. It is part of a broader pattern of systematic targeting and brutal treatment of Palestinian healthcare personnel in an attempt to crush the healthcare system in Gaza.

“The world’s silence today could mean the loss of an innocent human life. Time is running out, and we urge you to intervene before it is too late.” - Amnesty International.

Author: Rachael Mellor, 11.08.26, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0