Kidnapped Gaza Doctor Faces ‘Life-Threatening Condition’ in Israeli Captivity
'This is the last time you’ll see me,' Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya told his lawyer. 'They brought me here to kill me.'
A famed Palestinian hospital director who Israel abducted in December 2024 is on the brink of death, his lawyer warns.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has been in Israeli captivity for 18 months, ever since Israeli forces shut down the crucial Kamal Adwan Hospital – the second largest in northern Gaza – in the winter of 2024.
Now, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) is relaying a warning from Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, that the prominent Palestinian pediatrician and hospital director is in “life-threatening condition” and enduring “daily violence and beatings.”
Abu Safiya, per PHRI, also reported a dramatic increase in assaults against him since proceedings regarding his release began last month. After a hearing for his appeal, a gang of officers allegedly entered Abu Safiya’s cell and beat him with a hammer and batons, and he has endured similar bouts of violence daily – leading him to lose consciousness several times.
Odeh reported that Abu Safiya arrived at their most recent meeting accompanied by masked guards – with both his hands and feet cuffed. He reported fresh bruising across the doctor’s body, including on his head and around his eyes, ears, and neck. Odeh reported that the injuries were so severe, he could barely recognize Abu Safiya.
Abu Safiya reportedly had difficulty breathing and speaking, and struggled to remain seated without falling. Odeh said his client seemed frightened and in severe distress and was afraid to speak openly out of fear he’d be retaliated against even further.
Abu Safiya is among at least 13 other Palestinian doctors Israel has held for more than 18 months without charge or trial – a broad lawless practice Israel uses to abduct and hold Palestinians called “administrative detention.”
Israel has repeatedly extended the detention of Abu Safiya – whose only crime apparently is healing Palestinians terrorized by Israeli forces – with no due process or semblance of legal rights.
Calls for Release Grow
The World Health Organization, UN special rapporteurs, and Amnesty International are among the scores of groups calling for the freeing of Abu Safiya and other healthcare workers kidnapped by Israel.
A rising tide of British politicians have spoken out in recent days, including Hamish Falconer, John McDonnell, Apsana Begum, Zack Polanski, and Zarah Sultana.
Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon at Oxford University Hospital, who volunteered in Gaza, expressed deep concern with Zeteo about the situation. “There has been a severe deterioration in his condition and his life is in danger,” Maynard said. “The further information we have received makes it clear that his life is in imminent danger and he must urgently be transferred to hospital for life-saving treatment.”
U.S. politicians, meanwhile, have been slow to respond to the dire situation. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer and House leader Hakeem Jeffries did not respond to requests for comment.
Claire Valdez, among the socialists who recently upset the Democratic establishment in a New York City primary election, told Zeteo she will not stand for such conditions when she joins Congress. “For over 1,000 days, the United States has funded a genocide during which 1,722 Palestinian health workers have been murdered. It is not too late to save Dr. Abu Safiya,” she said. “He must be released immediately, along with the thousands of Palestinian prisoners – including over a dozen health workers – currently detained without charges. In Congress, I’ll fight to end all US aid to Israel and to end the siege and occupation of Gaza.
‘Brought Me Here to Kill Me’
Abu Safiya’s hospital was repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military, on the grounds that it was hosting “Hamas militants” – an unproven claim that medics and Hamas repeatedly denied. (Even if such claims were true, that would not justify Israel’s illegal and indiscriminate bombing and kidnapping campaign it enacted at hospitals across the Strip).
Nevertheless, each time Israeli forces attacked, the hospital director stood defiant, insisting that the hospital remain in service to take care of his patients, including newborns.
In late December 2024, Israeli forces stormed the hospital, lit various wings on fire, and forcibly stripped and snatched hospital staff. As with many of its operations, Israel claimed the hospital served as a Hamas base, with no evidence. Abu Safiya was among the hundreds Israeli had abducted.
Among the final images of Abu Safiya was seen around the world: a doctor in his white coat, trudging to an Israeli tank, towards his fate of being detained by the genocidal Israeli military.
Israel reportedly first took him to the notoriously horrific Sde Teiman prison – where Israeli soldiers are accused of vicious and barbaric acts, including torture, rape, and other forms of sexual abuse. Over the course of his detention, Israel has moved him to several other facilities, including Ofer Prison, Nafha Prison in the Negev Desert, then Ktzi’ot Prison, and then, finally, reportedly solitary confinement in Ramon Prison, also in the desert.
Israel has alleged that Abu Safiya is a member of Hamas, with no evidence – a claim that medical officials and other detainees pushed back on. “Everyone was surprised by his arrival because he is a humanitarian doctor who does not belong to any organization,” Mustafa Hassouna, a freed Sde Teimann detainee, told CNN.
On Sunday, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to respond by Tuesday to a petition filed by PHRI in April seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors, including Abu Safiya, being held without charge. PHRI is also requesting a Supreme Court justice make an official prison inspection visit to Abu Safiya, and is seeking permission for an independent cardiologist and two additional lawyers to meet with him as well.
Eighteen months into Israel’s illegal detention of him, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is now on the brink of death. He told his lawyer: “This is the last time you’ll see me…They brought me here to kill me.”
If you believe in the work we do and want to see more of it, do consider becoming a paid subscriber if you’re not already one. A donation to Zeteo also goes a long way.
Don’t miss the powerful documentary on Gaza doctors that the BBC refused to air:
They snatched him as he was walking home through the rubble! His arms were full of black bruises the last time he was before a camera! The occupiers claim he is a Hamas operative, show no proof, but slowly and deliberately torture him to death for the public to view! Are you people, who could stop Israel, f*cking crazy to just let this happen?
Israel is a sickness. Non of what they do has anything to do with protecting themselves. Nothing!