Lawyer Says Israel Holds Gaza Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya in Immediate Danger

Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, is being held by Israel without charge after Israeli forces arrested him on Dec. 27, 2024, and his lawyer Nasser Odeh says a July 2 prison visit to the underground Rakefet facility at Nitzan Prison found him in “immediate danger.”

“Lawyers for prominent Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safiya have issued a dire warning about their client's wellbeing, alleging he has been severely beaten by Israeli prison guards and is at risk of being killed behind bars”

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Odeh told Arab News that Abu Safiya said, “They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end.”

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and Odeh said Abu Safiya was brought to the meeting in hand and foot shackles, escorted by masked prison guards, and suffering from fresh injuries to his head, eyes, ears and neck.

The BBC reported that PHRI said Abu Safiya was moved to the underground Investigations Section called Rikfet at Nitzan Prison, and that his lawyer Nasser Auda described an “imminent threat to his life” after repeated assaults inside an Israeli prison.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to “secure immediate access” to Abu Safiya and to Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of field hospitals in the Gaza Strip, warning that fears they could face death from torture are growing.

The Monitor said the Red Cross must intervene immediately and conduct visits, and it called the “immediate release of Abu Safiya and Al-Hams” a “top legal obligation” that “cannot be overlooked.”

Al Jazeera

In parallel, ABC News & Headlines reported that PHRI published fresh revelations after a meeting between Abu Safiya and his lawyer Nasser Odeh at Nitzan prison east of Tel Aviv, where Odeh’s affidavit said Abu Safiya was brought shackled by hands and feet and accompanied by masked prison guards.

The Israeli Prison Service, which runs Nitzan Prison, told ABC that it described the allegations as “false and entirely without factual basis,” and said it refused to comment specifically on Abu Safiya’s condition citing “privacy obligations and security considerations.”

Arab News said Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Sunday that the state must submit by July 7 its response to a petition filed by PHRI seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza held without charge, and specifically address serious allegations concerning Abu Safiya’s condition.

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Al-Manar TV Lebanon

The BBC reported that the Israeli Supreme Court rejected Abu Safiya’s appeal against his ongoing detention, ruling he can continue to be held under Israel’s law for unlawful combatants despite criminal charges not having been brought against him.

Al Jazeera reported that Abu Safiya’s son Elyas issued an urgent appeal in a video message on Sunday, saying his father had been unable to breathe and unable to speak after being transferred to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.

In the same Al Jazeera report, Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that his life is in immediate danger after his transfer to the Rakefet section of Nitzan prison, and it said he is one of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza currently held by Israel without charge.