Fears grow for kidnapped Gaza hospital chief who remains unlawfully imprisoned by Israel without crime, charge or trial

Dr Hussam Abu Safiyeh, a Palestinian paediatrician, was arrested 187 days ago and has since endured torture, starvation and indefinite detention without charge or trial. Updated 1 July 2025.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiyeh, a Palestinian paediatrician and director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, was arrested on 27 December 2024 after refusing to abandon his patients. He has since endured torture, starvation and indefinite detention without charge or trial. He is being held in worsening “inhumane conditions” inside an Israeli detention centre, according to his lawyer.

On 15 February 2025, Gheed Kassem, who has visited Abu Safiya three times, told Alaraby TV that the physical and psychological abuse he and others are enduring amounts to systematic torture.

“Each visit was more difficult than the one before,” she said.

“What I’ve heard from him is so horrific I don’t even know if it’s right to say it publicly.”

Kassem said Abu Safiya, like other Palestinian detainees from Gaza, was brutally beaten during Eid al-Fitr in April 2024.

“I haven’t met a single prisoner this past week who wasn’t assaulted,” she said.

“The torture is increasing. Starvation is increasing. Isolation is increasing. The threats are increasing. And no one is stopping it.”

Doctors, nurses, and even patients seized from Gaza’s hospitals are being tortured. Kassem described some of the “lighter” treatment as stomping on faces, humiliation, and forcing prisoners to drink sewage water.

“We’re ashamed to even talk about the levels of torture happening,” she said. She added that detainees are being made to carry out acts that would be “morally denounced worldwide … Their honour is stepped on every day, every minute … the mistreatment is indescribably horrible.”

Israel classifies Abu Safiya as an “unlawful combatant” despite being a civilian doctor. This allows the state to imprison him without charge or trial under administrative detention until at least September or October 2025. He has no access to due process, and there is no indictment against him.

Abu Safiya’s health is deteriorating. Kassem said he was recently struck in the head with a metal pillar.

“Even a healthy person wouldn’t survive this system without lasting damage,” she added.

In October 2024, Israeli forces killed Abu Safiya’s son in a raid on Kamal Adwan hospital. Still, Kassem said,

“the first thing he asks about is the state of Gaza’s hospitals. Despite the monstrous conditions in prison, his concern is with the people.”

According to Addameer, the Palestinian prisoner support organisation, as of June 2025, Israel is holding nearly 10,000 Palestinians – including around 400 children and 27 women. Nearly 3,500 are under administrative detention. It is estimated that Israel has imprisoned or detained around 40% of all Palestinian men at some point.

This is not about security. It’s about breaking the backbone of Palestinian society – doctors, patients, civilians. Dr Abu Safiya symbolised the humanity of Gaza’s healthcare system. That’s what’s being destroyed.

Dr Safiya was born on 21 November 1973 in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. His family had been displaced from the town of Hamama in the Ashkelon district during the 1948 Nakba. He completed his early education in Gaza before moving to Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union, to pursue medical studies. During his time there, he met Albina Abu Safiya, a Kazakh/Russian national, whom he later married. After earning his medical degree in the mid-1990s, he returned to Gaza in 1996 with his wife to begin his medical career.

He began working under the Gaza Ministry of Health as a paediatric physician. Over the years, he became known for his expertise in neonatology and paediatric care, eventually obtaining a master’s degree and passing the Palestinian board certification in these specialities. His skills and dedication led him to increasing responsibilities within Gaza’s healthcare system. He became head of the paediatric department at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, overseeing critical care for infants and children.

Dr Abu Safiya played a key role in expanding paediatric and neonatal services in Gaza, particularly at Kamal Adwan Hospital, which serves a large population in the northern region. His work included securing ventilators, incubators, and medicine for newborns and children with chronic illnesses. He also worked with MedGlobal, an international medical organisation, providing humanitarian healthcare in Gaza.

On 7 October 2023, the war in Gaza erupted. Dr Abu Safiya, as head of Kamal Adwan’s paediatric department, found himself at the centre of a humanitarian crisis. With hospitals overwhelmed, supply lines cut off, and thousands of casualties, he refused to leave his post. Kamal Adwan became one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza. His family moved into the hospital for safety. He increased capacity from 120 to 200 beds to accommodate the wounded.

As bombardments intensified, the hospital became a refuge for displaced families and the wounded. Dr Abu Safiya issued repeated warnings to international media and humanitarian organisations about deteriorating conditions. He called for medical aid and warned of starvation and disease spreading among children due to the siege. He documented cases of infants dying from lack of milk and medicine. In a statement to Human Rights Watch in April 2024, he reported that 26 children had died in Kamal Adwan Hospital due to malnutrition and starvation-related complications.

The hospital faced repeated military attacks. The first major raid took place in December 2023, followed by another in May 2024. By October 2024, the hospital was under near-constant bombardment. Despite warnings to evacuate, Dr Abu Safiya refused to leave, stating that abandoning patients was not an option. On 25 October 2024, Israeli forces stormed the hospital. Hundreds were detained. He was interrogated and briefly released.

On the same day, an Israeli sniper shot and killed his 15-year-old son, Ibrahim, at the hospital gates. Dr Abu Safiya described this as a deliberate act of retaliation. He led funeral prayers for his son in the courtyard, then returned to treat patients.

Dr Abu Safiya was appointed director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in February 2024 after his predecessor, Dr Ahmed al-Kahlout, was detained, tortured, and later killed by Israeli forces. Dr al-Kahlout had been arrested in December 2023 and forced to falsely confess that the hospital was used for military purposes. Human rights organisations and colleagues rejected the statements as coerced. The OHCHR and Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned Israel’s claims. On 29 November 2024, an Israeli drone strike killed Dr al-Kahlout as he passed through the hospital gate.

After Israeli forces withdrew on 28 October 2024, the bombardment of Kamal Adwan continued. Snipers began targeting the building in November. On 23 November 2024, Dr Abu Safiya was injured by shrapnel when a quadcopter drone strike hit the compound. Despite wounds to his leg, he continued working.

On 27 December 2024, Israeli forces launched a final raid, forcing evacuation of all remaining patients, staff, and civilians. Around 350 people were detained, including Dr Abu Safiya. Footage from the day showed him calmly approaching an Israeli tank, informing soldiers the hospital was empty before being taken. Witnesses reported he had ensured all patients and personnel were safe before leaving.

After his arrest, he was taken to the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert, notorious for torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees. Shortly after learning of his detention in January 2025, his mother, Samiha Abu Safiya, suffered a fatal heart attack. The psychological toll on his family came weeks after the killing of his son. No information was provided about his whereabouts for weeks. Under pressure from human rights groups, Israeli authorities confirmed his detention. He was later transferred to Ofer Prison in the West Bank.

During detention, multiple organisations documented torture and inhumane treatment. Front Line Defenders, Amnesty International, and Al Jazeera reported beatings with batons, electric shocks, forced stress positions, and prolonged shackling. He was forcibly stripped, denied medical care, and given one meal per day, causing severe weight loss and worsening chronic hypertension. On 11 February 2025, after 47 days in detention, he was allowed to meet a lawyer from the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, where he gave a firsthand account of the brutality.

On 20 February, Israeli Channel 13 broadcast footage of him inside Ofer Prison—shackled, visibly emaciated, and being forcibly handled by prison guards. His family described the broadcast as a form of psychological warfare, designed to humiliate and further

The footage sparked outrage, with his family calling it psychological warfare. Holocaust survivors and scholars condemned the attack on medical professionals, with Dr Gabor Maté drawing historical parallels and Elise Tak, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, denouncing the targeting of doctors as a war crime.

On 19 March 2025, Dr Abu Safiya was visited in prison by his lawyer, Gheed Kassem, who confirmed that he remains in “inhumane conditions” and is suffering from extreme exhaustion, chronic medical neglect, and repeated psychological abuse. Kassem reported that he is still being denied proper food and medical care, and that he continues to face daily humiliation.

On 25 March 2025, the Be’er Sheva District Court upheld his administrative detention without charge or trial, extending it until at least September 2025.

The court relied on military orders and invoked Israel’s “Unlawful Combatants Law,” which strips Palestinian detainees of basic legal protections. No indictment has been filed against him.

Human rights organisations including Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, and Defence for Children International have condemned the ruling and continue to call for his immediate release. They warn that his ongoing detention is part of a broader Israeli policy of targeting medical professionals in Gaza, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Dr Abu Safiya’s condition remains a matter of urgent concern. His imprisonment without due process—amid visible signs of physical and psychological trauma—symbolises a campaign not only against individuals but against the very infrastructure of Palestinian healthcare. His continued detention is an attack on Gaza’s right to survive.