The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has called for Israel to immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the 52-year-old director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, saying there are credible reports he has faced “continued and severe abuse,” Al Jazeera reported on July 8.
Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, has warned that the doctor’s health is in grave danger as he faces daily abuse. Rights groups and his family say he shows signs of having been regularly tortured.
“The Commission calls for the immediate, unconditional and safe release of Dr. Abu Safiya and of all medical personnel held in arbitrary detention by Israel,” the commission said in a statement. “It also urges the Israeli authorities to provide immediate independent medical care for Dr. Abu Safiya.”
In the statement urging his release, the commission said that Israeli authorities’ reported conduct towards Abu Safiya reflects a broader pattern of violations that it identified in previous reports. “The actions of the Israeli Prison Service guards towards Palestinian detainees raise grave concerns of violations of international law that likely amount to international crimes. Dr. Abu Safiya’s medical condition is the direct result of these actions.”
U.S. Representative Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) has similarly called for Dr. Abu Safiya’s release. “I am deeply disturbed by the continued detention of prominent Palestinian doctor, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, and reports that he has been beaten while being held in Israel without charges,” she wrote on X on July 8. “Dr. Safiya must be released immediately to receive the care he needs, and must be allowed to return to Gaza to continue his lifesaving work.”
The son of Dr. Abu Safiya, Elias, has told Middle East Eye that his family feels betrayed by human rights groups, and that they hold the international community accountable for his deteriorating health in Israeli prison. “Regrettably the time for appeals has passed—the moment has arrived for a final opportunity, a last call addressed to every person to intervene urgently and speak out about my father’s situation, Elias said. “The world clearly doesn’t see us as human beings or deserving of equal rights. There is far more support for Israeli causes than Palestinian ones. We have been abandoned, and Palestinians like my father are being abandoned in Israeli prison cells and left to die.”
