Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is a Palestinian consultant pediatric doctor. He is currently the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. He is one of the prominent figures in the health sector in the Gaza Strip, having led health workers to provide services to the Gazan population. He was born in Jabalia camp in Gaza City to a family that was exiled from the town of Hamama during the 1948 Nakba. He obtained Palestinian Board certification in pediatric and neonatal medicine.
Dr. Abu Safiya rose to global prominence through his media appearances to expose the occupation's violations in besieging, targeting, and destroying Kamal Adwan Hospital during the genocidal war. He remained steadfast in the hospital until it was forcefully evacuated. Occupation forces detained him for the first time with the entire medical cadre of the hopspital during the siege and raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital on October 26, 2024. During their detention, occupation forces had targeted Dr. Abu Safiya's son, Ibrahim, and Dr. Abu Safiya was released to news of his son's martyrdom. While he was incarcerated later, his mother passed away on January 8, 2025 as a result of a heart attack.
Dr. Abu Safiya was injured in his thigh as a result of a "Quadcopter" targeting the hospital and he carried on working despite this. He was arrested by occupation forces after they destroyed and completely evacuated Kamal Adwan Hospital, after the world failed to respond to Dr. Abu Safiya's urgent appeals to stop occupation forces from targeting healthcare facilities and lifelines in the Gaza Strip.
Detention and torture
Dr. Abu Safiya was detained on December 27, 2024 from Kamal Adwan Hospital, alongside many doctors, healthcare workers, and members of the general public. Occupation authorities transferred him to Sde Teiman detention camp, where he was held until January 22, 2025, when he was transferred to Ofer Prison.
He was barred from meeting his lawyer for 47 days, while occupation authorities renewed an order to prevent him from communicating with a lawyer on three consecutive occasions until February 7, 2025.
A lawyer was finally able to visit him on February 11, 2025 in Ofer Prison, where Dr. Abu Safiya reported being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture from the first moments of his arrest. Upon his transfer out of the Gaza Strip, he was forced to strip, had his hands bound, and was made to sit on sharp pebbles for five hours, while he was beaten in the chest with an electric stick. He spent 14 days in solitary confinement in Sde Teiman and 25 days in Ofer Prison, including 13 consecutive days under interrogation, which would last 8-10 hours per day, leading him to pass out from suffocation in his cell.
In addition to the brutal treatment, his weight dropped from 96 kg to 84 kg during his detention. He suffers from an enlarged heart and is being prevented from medical follow-up despite his repeated requests for treatment.
After occupation authorities failed to fabricate any security charges against him, they issued an order to transfer the status of his detention to "unlawful combatant" on February 12, giving the occupation forces additional powers to extend his detention and prevent him from lawyer visits and legal oversight during his detention.
Calls for release
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights called for the immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiya and all other health workers and for the international community to uphold its legal and moral obligations towards Palestinian detainees who suffer torture and severe violations. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has called for his immediate release. Amnesty International demanded that Israeli authorities end his torture and guarantee his protection.
Doctors and supporters of Palestine organized rallies and campaigns to demand Dr. Abu Safiya's freedom in several countries, including Jordan, Canada, Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Some news outlets claimed he will be released during the sixth round of the prisoner exchange deal on February 22, 2025, but, eventually, his name was not included in the official lists of prisoners to be released.
