The director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, detained by Israeli forces in December, is being held in “inhumane” conditions and subjected to both “physical and psychological intimidation,” his lawyer told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a 52-year-old pediatrician, gained attention last year for highlighting the deteriorating conditions at his hospital in Beit Lahia amid Israel’s military operations in northern Gaza.
On Dec. 27, Israeli forces launched a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, which they alleged was being used as a Hamas "terrorist center." During the operation, dozens of medical personnel, including Dr. Abu Safiya, were arrested.
According to his legal representative, Abu Safiya’s detention conditions violate international humanitarian standards. Israeli authorities have not commented on the allegations as of this writing. The military accused him of being a "Hamas operative."
The lawyer for Abu Safiya said her client is being held in “inhumane” conditions and subjected to “physical and psychological intimidation” while in Israeli custody.
Gheed Qassem, Abu Safiya’s attorney, told AFP that she visited the 52-year-old pediatrician on March 19 at Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
“He is suffering greatly,” she said. “He is exhausted from the torture, the pressure and the humiliation he has endured to force him to confess to acts he did not commit.”
The Israeli military did not respond to AFP’s request for comment. Following his arrest during a Dec. 27 raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital – an operation Israel claimed targeted a Hamas “terrorist center” – Abu Safiya was held for two weeks at the Sde Teiman military base in the Negev desert. There, he was allegedly subjected to “beatings, mistreatment and torture” during interrogations, Qassem said.
He was later transferred to Ofer Prison, where he spent 25 days in a cramped cell and faced further questioning, according to the lawyer.
Qassem said Abu Safiya has been labeled an “illegal combatant” by Israeli authorities, allowing his indefinite detention under a law adopted in 2002 that applies to suspected members of “hostile forces.” His case has been classified as confidential, barring his legal team from accessing key documents.
He also criticized restrictions on legal visits, saying lawyers have been unable to inform detainees of basic facts such as the date, time or even their geographic location.
She said her March meeting with Abu Safiya lasted only 17 minutes and occurred under heavy surveillance.
Human rights group Amnesty International in January called for Abu Safiya’s release, citing witness reports describing the “horrifying reality” inside Israeli detention facilities, where Palestinians are allegedly subjected to “systematic acts of torture and other mistreatment.”
A growing social media campaign under the hashtag #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya has drawn support from health care organizations, public figures and international officials, including World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has also called for Abu Safiya’s release.
Qassem warned that her client’s health is deteriorating. “He is suffering from arterial tension, cardiac arrhythmia and vision problems,” she said. “He has lost 20 kilos in two months and fractured four ribs during interrogations, without receiving proper medical care.”
Despite his condition, the doctor remains composed, according to Qassem, though he reportedly questions “what crime he has committed” to warrant such treatment.
She said Israeli interrogators are pressuring him to admit to having treated Hamas fighters or Israeli hostages held in Gaza – allegations he denies.
“He insists he is just a pediatrician,” Qassem said. “Everything he did was out of a moral, professional and human duty toward the patients and the wounded.”
Since the outbreak of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has detained around 5,000 Gazans, with some later released in hostage exchange deals.
Many, according to Qassem, have been accused of “belonging to a terrorist organization” or posing a security threat, while others remain in detention without charge or trial. In many cases, she added, lawyers were unaware of their clients’ whereabouts during the early stages of the war.
