UN Rights Body Urges Israel To Release Gaza Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya

A UN human rights body has called on Israel to immediately release Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, saying the “appropriate remedy would be to release Mr Abu Safiya immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations,” after he was seized by Israeli troops in December 2024 during the Gaza war.

“A UN human rights group is warning that the life of Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia is in imminent danger and is demanding his immediate release from “arbitrary” Israeli detention”

Al Jazeera

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Israel’s actions contravened multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and it warned the case “may indicate a widespread or systematic practice of arbitrary detention in the country”.

Al Jazeera

The complaint was filed by the Mena Rights Group, which said the paediatrician, 52, was director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza when he was arrested and has faced repeated solitary confinement, long interrogations and beatings with batons and electric sticks.

His lawyer, Naser Odeh, visited him at the underground Nitzan prison last week and said his health was in grave danger, adding that during the latest visit he “was not the same person I had previously met”.

The Israeli Supreme Court last month rejected an appeal to release the doctor, who is being held under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows the detention of suspects to be extended indefinitely.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) told The New Arab that Israel’s continued imprisonment of prominent Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya is “political, not legal” and is keeping him behind bars despite mounting evidence of torture that brings him “closer to death”.

The New Arab reported that Israel's Supreme Court ordered the state to respond, by Tuesday, to a petition demanding the release of 14 Palestinian doctors detained from Gaza and held without charge, with the petition filed by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI).

Amnesty International

Aseel Baidoun, MAP’s Deputy Director of Advocacy and Communications, said, “Under international law, doctors are meant to be protected, not punished, for treating patients,” and warned that extending Abu Safiya’s imprisonment would push him closer to death.

Amnesty International said Israeli authorities must immediately release the arbitrarily detained paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan hospital, warning that his lawyer’s reports indicate “his life is at imminent risk amidst his ongoing unlawful detention.”

Amnesty International quoted Erika Guevara Rosas saying, “The Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya,” while also calling for protection from abuse, adequate medical care, and access to independent monitors including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Amnesty International said reports of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s deteriorating conditions emerged following a visit by a lawyer for Physicians’ for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) on 2 July 2026, when Nasser Odeh reported daily beatings, threats, and other abuse after his transfer to the underground detention facility Rakevet.

“The Palestinian Prisoners Club says new data regarding Kamal Adwan Hospital's director in the Gaza Strip, Dr”

Anadolu Ajansi

Amnesty International quoted Odeh’s account that Abu Safiya told him, “This is the last time you’ll see me…they brought me here to kill me,” and said the injuries were so severe he arrived with his hands and feet shackled and was barely recognizable.

The Guardian reported that Abu Safiya met his lawyer on 2 July after a transfer to the underground Rakefet prison in late June, and that he faced “tangible danger to his life” after being held for 18 months without charge or trial.

The Guardian also quoted Odeh saying, “His physical and psychological state, the severe injuries visible on his body, and his personal testimony leave no room for doubt: his life is in immediate danger.”

In a separate account, Zeteo said Abu Safiya told his lawyer, “This is the last time you’ll see me,” and “They brought me here to kill me,” while Physicians for Human Rights Israel relayed warnings of “daily violence and beatings” and a “life-threatening condition” in Israeli captivity.