UN Inquiry Urges Israel To Release Gaza Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya

A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, urged Israel to immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, and all Palestinian medical personnel held in arbitrary detention.

The commission said it had grave concern over credible reports that Abu Safiya had been subjected to “severe abuse” while in custody after his detention by Israeli authorities in December 2024.

Al Jazeera

The UN inquiry also tied its call to a broader pattern it described in previous reports, saying Israeli security forces “deliberately killed, wounded, detained and severely mistreated medical personnel.”

Dawn reported that the UN inquiry called for Abu Safiya’s immediate release while he remained held without charge, and said Physicians for Human Rights Israel described his life as in imminent danger.

An Israel Prison Service (IPS) spokesperson rejected the allegations, telling Dawn that “The allegations and characterisations described are false, outrageous, and entirely without factual basis.”

BBC reported that Nasser Odeh, the lawyer for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, said that during a visit last Thursday at a detention facility called Rakefet, his client was so badly beaten that he could not recognise him.

Odeh told the BBC, “He nearly lost consciousness several times,” and said Abu Safiya described severe violence inside prison, especially on the day of the visit.

Al Jazeera

The BBC also said Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government to respond by Tuesday to a petition calling for the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors from Gaza held without charge in Israel.

In a statement to the BBC, the Israel Prison Service rejected Odeh’s account as false, and the IPS said it did not provide details on detention status, place of detention or medical condition for privacy and security.

Al Jazeera reported that the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry called for “the immediate, unconditional and safe release of Dr. Abu Safiya,” and said it urged Israeli authorities to provide immediate independent medical care.

Al Jazeera reported that Palestinian and British crowds protested in front of the British Prime Minister's Office in London, waving banners demanding the immediate release of Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya.

In London, Al Jazeera’s correspondent Asad Allah Al-Sawi said demonstrators consider Abu Safiya’s arrest without a formal charge “a flagrant violation of his rights and the rights of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.”

The article also said Abu Safiya’s lawyer Nasser Ouda told Al Jazeera that Israeli authorities transferred his client to solitary confinement, and that his health had become in grave danger after head and facial injuries left him short of breath.

In a separate report, the UN Human Rights Council described Israel’s detention of Abu Safiya as arbitrary and called for his immediate release, while human rights organizations warned his life was in imminent danger.

Maktoob quoted UN experts saying Abu Safiya’s “ongoingarbitrary detentionwithout charges or trial” reflected what they described as Israel’s “systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers,” and said Israel must ensure he has access to immediate and adequate medical care.