13 January 2025
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s condition critical
Dr. Hussam Abu Safieh's son, Elias Abu Safieh, has shared that Dr. Hussam, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is in critical condition due to severe torture by the Israeli army. Despite no formal charges being filed, his detention has been extended until February 13, and he is prohibited from meeting with a lawyer until January 22. The family remains deeply concerned and still has no information about the reasons behind his arrest. International calls for his release are growing. He was recently transferred to Ashkelon Court after spending ten days in custody at Sedi Timan Prison. Current whereabouts unknown.
On 9 January 2025, the Ashkelon Magistrates' Court in Israel extended the detention without charge of paediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya until 13 February 2025.
On 8 January 2025, according to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights that is representing Dr Safiyah upon the request of his family, Israeli authorities also blocked Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from seeing his lawyer until 22 January 2025.
On 27 December 2024, the Israeli forces arbitrarily detained paediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. This happened after the Israeli army invaded the hospital and ordered the evacuation of all its departments. Since his arrest, the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya are unknown.
Once a vital lifeline for the region, the hospital was bombed, burned, and rendered completely out of service, leaving residents without critical medical care.
Dr Abu Safiya’s detention has sparked international outrage, with his whereabouts remaining undisclosed and access to legal counsel denied. His case highlights the increasingly perilous conditions faced by medical professionals in Gaza amidst a broader assault on the territory’s healthcare system.
Since his arrest, the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya are unknown.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, was detained by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024. This occurred after the Israeli army raided the hospital, ordering the evacuation of all departments. Since his arrest, his whereabouts have been unconfirmed, with Israeli authorities refusing to disclose them. However, testimonies from recently released Palestinian detainees indicate that Dr Abu Safiya is being held at the Sde Teiman detention centre, a facility in an Israeli military base in the Negev desert near the Gaza border. These detainees reported that he had been beaten and humiliated by Israeli forces.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, under Dr Abu Safiya’s leadership, was one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza before it was bombed, burned, and evacuated by Israeli forces in late December 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that key departments were severely damaged during the raid, rendering the hospital completely out of service and leaving residents of northern Gaza without a functioning hospital.
In October 2024, Israeli forces ordered Dr Abu Safiya to evacuate the hospital. He refused, citing the lack of alternative functioning hospitals for his patients and the absence of other shelters for those using the hospital as refuge. From November 2024 until his arrest, Dr Abu Safiya used his Instagram account to document Israeli violations and attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital, posting daily updates and appealing to the international community to intervene. Tragically, on 28 October, his son was killed by a drone strike while sheltering at the hospital with his family. Dr Abu Safiya himself was injured in November 2024 due to direct bombing of the hospital.
“The Israeli army does not know what it wants. They detained me for a few hours and interrogated me about whether there were fighters inside the hospital, and demanded that I evacuate the hospital completely, but I refused and assured them that there were only patients inside the hospital. But 57 of the hospital’s medical staff were arrested, (...) So we are suffering from a severe shortage of doctors, especially surgeons. Right now, we only have pediatricians — it is a huge challenge to work under these circumstances. I refused to leave the hospital and sacrifice my patients, so the army punished me by killing my son. I saw him die at the entrance gate — it was a great shock. I found a grave for him near one of the hospital’s walls, so that he could stay close to me.” Dr Hussam Abu Safyeh
The detention of Dr Abu Safiya has drawn international condemnation. On 7 January 2025, an Early Day Motion was tabled in the UK Parliament, expressing deep concern over his detention and calling for his immediate release, along with other detained medical personnel, in accordance with international humanitarian law, which safeguards medical workers from detention and harm in conflict settings.
The targeting of medical facilities and personnel in Gaza has been a persistent issue. By November 2024, only 17 out of 35 hospitals remained operational in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, by December 2024, Israeli forces had killed around 1,057 doctors and healthcare workers. These actions have been widely condemned as violations of international humanitarian law, which grants specific protection to civilian hospitals and medical personnel.
Front Line Defenders, an international human rights organisation founded in Dublin in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk, is urging the Israeli authorities to:
- Immediately reveal the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya;
- Immediately and unconditionaly release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya along with other detained Palestinian healthworkers and human rights defenders;
- Ensure that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s physical and psychological integrity are protected and guaranteed while in prison in accordance with its obligations as an occupying power under international standards, mainly international humanitarian law;
- provide Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya with access to his family and lawyers;
- Cease targeting all doctors and human rights defenders in Gaza and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights work without fear of reprisals.
Front Line Defenders also urges the international community to press Israel to :
- End its atrocities in Gaza, by calling for a ceasefire;
- Immediately and unconditionaly release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya along with other detained Palestinian healthworkers and human rights defenders;
- Ensure that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s physical and psychological integrity are protected and guaranteed while in prison in accordance with its obligations as an occupying power under international standards, mainly international humanitarian law;
- Cease targeting doctors and human rights defenders in Gaza and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights work without fear of reprisals.