Since his arbitrary detention by Israeli occupation forces in December 2024, the health and wellbeing of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the esteemed pediatrician and director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, have significantly deteriorated amid reports of abuse, neglect, and inhumane conditions in Israeli custody.

Dr Abu Safiya’s condition: ‘serious and alarming’

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), who were given rare permission to visit Abu Safiya on 25 September in Israel’s Ofer Prison, say a “serious and alarming” picture has emerged, of medical neglect of the doctor. He has lost nearly 25 kilograms, suffers from untreated scabies, and shows signs of severe malnutrition and exhaustion.

There are also reports of repeated torture, including beatings and electric shocks, alongside denial of essential medical care despite suffering from heart problems. Basic hygiene and sanitation are non existent, with Abu Safiya prevented from showering, or changing his clothing, including his underwear. Before yesterdays visit, he had not changed his clothes since his arrest in December.

Abu Safiya refused to abandon his patients and colleagues

For over two decades, Abu Safiya dedicated his life to pediatric care in northern Gaza, eventually becoming the head of the crucial Kamal Adwan Hospital. Located in North Gaza, Kamal Adwan was one of the last functioning hospitals in the region, providing vital care to Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip. Dr Abu Safiya refused repeated orders from Israeli forces to evacuate the hospital, realising that his patients – many children – had nowhere else to turn.

Despite personal loss, including the killing of his son in an Israeli drone strike in October 2024, and injuries he sustained during bombing of the hospital, Abu Safiya continued to provide medical care, refusing to abandon his patients. He became known for documenting the siege on the hospital via social media, appealing publicly to the international community to intervene and prevent what he described as a genocidal assault on Gaza’s health infrastructure.

Detained under the Unlawful Combatants Law

On 27 December 2024, Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcibly evacuating more than 350 patients and staff, including over 180 medical workers, and family members. They then set fire to the hospital, putting it completely out of service and leaving northern Gaza residents without essential healthcare services. Among those detained was Dr Abu Safiya.

For weeks, his location and condition were unknown to everyone, despite urgent appeals by human rights organizations. The Israeli military classified him under the controversial Unlawful Combatants Law, allowing indefinite detention without charge or trial, stripping detainees of basic legal protections. His first visit by a lawyer occurred on 11 February 2025, 47 days after his capture.

Violations of the laws of war

Abu Safiya’s continued detention without charge, and documented abuse and medical neglect, is a serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Medical personnel, facilities, and patients must be protected and allowed to operate without discrimination or interference during conflicts, yet there is a systematic pattern by the Israeli occupation of targeting them, in direct breach of medical neutrality and the Geneva Conventions.

Human rights organisations including Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, and others have been urgently calling for Abu Safiya’s immediate and unconditional release.

But Abu Safiya’s case is not isolated. Since the start of this genocide, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, more than 1,670 medical personnel have been martyred by the Israeli occupation, and more than 360 arrested, many without formal charges or access to legal representation.

Call to action for Dr Abu Safiya’s urgent release

This systematic targeting of health professionals is a serious breach of international law and an attempt to dismantle Gaza’s healthcare system and inflict the most harm possible to Palestinians. But, it has continued unabated because the international community has never held the Israeli occupation to account for any of its multitude of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people. The time to act is now.

Write to Israeli occupation authorities demanding the release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinian health workers, using Amnesty International’s letter template.

For more information about Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, watch Al Jazeera’s: The Disappearance of Dr Abu Safiya.

Feature image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube.

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.