Hussam Abu Safiya: Abducted Palestinian doctor still subject to torture by Israel
Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya has told his lawyer that he is still being beaten in detention by his Israeli guards.
According to Physicians for Human Rights, Abu Safiya told his lawyer this week that guards beat him and threatened him, telling the doctor he cannot talk about the conditions he is being held in.
"The guards beat him in various parts of his body, including sensitive areas, using hands, feet and batons," the organisation and Abu Safiya's lawyer said.
Abu Safiya is a paediatrician and former medical director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. He was abducted by Israel and has been held without charge since December 2024.
He told his lawyer this week that his Israeli guards deliberately deprive him of sleep by making noise "and announcements during nighttime hours".
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According to Abu Safiya, he was attacked the last time his lawyer visited.
In July, a number of United Nations experts called on Israel to immediately release Abu Safiya and all healthcare workers held in what they described as arbitrary detention.
In this op-ed, Dr James Smith, a lecturer in Humanitarian Policy & Practice at UCL and an emergency physician who volunteered in Gaza in 2023 and 2024, calls for the immediate release of Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. pic.twitter.com/jW4BXyAYU9
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 9, 2026
The experts said Abu Safiya's continued detention without charge or trial reflects Israel's systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the continued destruction of Gaza's health system.
They said the targeting was aimed at inflicting conditions leading to the mental and physical destruction of Palestinians.
The independent experts include special rapporteurs Francesca Albanese, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Morris Tidball-Binz and Ben Saul.
Abu Safiya and other Palestinians are being held under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, a statute the experts previously flagged as incompatible with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
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