Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has waged an ongoing courageous battle against Israel’s genocidalists to keep the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza open and functioning. According to the Dec. 28 TRT World, “On Oct. 25, the Israeli army shelled the third floor of the hospital, and shut off the hospital’s medical oxygen generator, killing two infants in the intensive care unit. After that, Israeli troops invaded the hospital, ordering all patients to gather in the central courtyard. Hundreds of people were arrested, including nearly the entire hospital staff.
“But Safiya remained defiant to Israeli diktats and refused to evacuate patients. He was briefly held during the raid before returning to his duty, the +972 magazine reported.”
“The Israeli army detained me and demanded that I evacuate the hospital,” Abu Safiya told the Electronic Intifada. “I refused and assured them that there were only patients inside. But they arrested 57 staff members, leaving us with a severe shortage of doctors, especially surgeons. Now, only I and one other pediatrician remain,” he said after the assault.
The Israelis did not let this defiance pass. They struck the hospital entrance with a drone. The strike killed Abu Safiya’s 15-year-old son, who along with his family, like hundreds of other displaced Palestinians, was sheltering in the hospital premises. “I refused to leave the hospital and sacrifice my patients, so the army punished me by killing my son,” Hussam Abu Safiya shared with journalists contacting him about the situation at his hospital.
