Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was taken by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024 after the military raided the hospital and ordered its evacuation. He was not taken from a battlefield. He was taken from a hospital — a place where he had been treating the wounded, caring for patients, and trying to keep one of northern Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities alive.
His detention has now become a symbol of Israel’s assault on Gaza’s medical system. Reports say Dr Abu Safiya has been held without formal charges, while legal proceedings around his detention have been handled under Israel’s “unlawful combatant” framework. Human rights groups and UN experts have called for his immediate release, warning about his health, his treatment in custody, and the wider targeting of Palestinian healthcare workers.
Before his detention, Dr Abu Safiya was known for refusing to abandon his patients despite repeated attacks, shortages, and the collapse of medical services in northern Gaza. Kamal Adwan Hospital had become one of the last lifelines for civilians, including children, the injured, and patients who had nowhere else to go. In November 2024, he was reportedly injured by shrapnel from a strike on the hospital, yet continued working.
That is why so many people believe he was taken not for a crime, but to prevent him from saving Palestinian lives. A doctor who stayed with the wounded should never be treated like a criminal. Saving lives is not terrorism. Treating the injured is not a military threat. Refusing to abandon patients is not a crime.
Reports from his family, lawyers, and rights groups allege that his health has deteriorated badly in detention, with concerns including weight loss, untreated injuries, poor access to medical care, harsh prison conditions, and solitary confinement. Reuters reported that his family and lawyer raised claims of fractured ribs, vision problems, chronic medical conditions, and mistreatment, while Israel’s Prison Service has denied allegations of abuse.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is not the only Palestinian medical worker detained. Reuters reported he is among 14 Palestinian doctors held by Israel, while nearly 400 healthcare workers have reportedly been detained during the war. That number should shock the world. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and hospital staff are supposed to be protected — not disappeared into prisons, denied proper care, or punished for doing their jobs.
The demand is simple: free Dr Hussam Abu Safiya now. Stop the torture. End the detention of Palestinian medical workers. The world cannot remain silent while a doctor is punished for saving lives.