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Detained doctor’s case
Israel is holding Gaza pediatrician and hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya under the Unlawful Combatants Law, and the state asked the High Court of Justice to dismiss a petition seeking his release.
“UN inquiry urges release of Gaza doctor held by Israel since December 2024 By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA, July 8 (Reuters) - A United Nations inquiry on Wednesday expressed concern at reports of abuse against a prominent Palestinian doctor seized by the Israeli military in Gaza in December 2024 and still being held in Israel and urged his release”
The Jerusalem Post reported that the state argued the detention orders were issued after an authorized official was presented with individualized classified security intelligence regarding each detainee, and that the petition filed by Physicians for Human Rights Israel seeks the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza held without charge.
Haaretz described how Abu Safiya’s family was affected after he was abducted by Israel, with his son Ibrahim killed in an Israeli drone strike and his two other sons wounded, and said the Kazakh Embassy in Tel Aviv managed to extricate the family from Gaza.
In the same case, the state told the High Court that “At no stage was there any indication of danger to life,” while PHRI and Abu Safiya’s lawyer Nasser Odeh said the doctor’s condition was deteriorating and required urgent independent review.
UN calls it arbitrary
A UN inquiry urged Abu Safiya’s release after expressing concern at reports of abuse, with Al-Monitor describing a Reuters dateline from GENEVA and quoting the UN inquiry’s view that the doctor’s medical condition was the direct result of the actions described.
Al-Monitor said the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, called for the immediate release of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, and reported that an Israel Prison Service spokesperson said the allegations were false and without factual basis.
Jurist.org reported that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Israel’s detention of Gazan doctor Hussam Abu Safiya violates international human rights law and called for his immediate release.
Jurist.org also quoted the Working Group’s remedy language, saying “The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Abu Safiya immediately,” while the Jerusalem Post reported the state’s position that periodic reviews and updated intelligence leave legal grounds in place.
Pressure, risk, and next steps
The Jerusalem Post reported that PHRI said an independent medical examination and an independent judicial review of Dr. Abu Safiya’s condition are urgently required, and it described PHRI’s request for an urgent hearing and a High Court justice to visit him as an official prison visitor.
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Le Club de Mediapart said Abu Safiya told his lawyer during his last visit on July 2 at the Rakefet detention center, located in the Nitzan prison in Israel, “They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. It’s the end.”
France Palestine Solidarité said UN human rights experts issued a new request for his release in March 2026, and it reported that in April 2026 his administrative detention was renewed and that in June 2026 he was placed in isolation.
Across the same dispute, the Jerusalem Post reported that the state rejected PHRI’s claims and said Abu Safiya was received at Nitzan Detention Center on June 24 and remains under regular medical follow-up, while Le Club de Mediapart and France Palestine Solidarité framed his condition as an immediate danger tied to alleged ill-treatment and lack of adequate medical care.
