Reports Suggest His Life Is in Grave Danger

Israeli authorities must immediately release the arbitrarily detained Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, Amnesty International said, following reports from a lawyer who visited him that there is an imminent threat to his life because of torture and other ill treatment in Israeli custody.

Dr Abu Safiya has been arbitrarily detained in Israeli jails for over eighteen months, without charge or trial, since December 27th, 2024, when he was arrested while on duty at his hospital in Gaza City.

“The details emerging about the deteriorating conditions of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s detention are truly horrifying. We are deeply alarmed by the reports from his lawyer indicating that his life is at imminent risk amidst his ongoing unlawful detention. It is unconscionable that a paediatrician, who has dedicated his life to saving others in the occupied Gaza Strip, is being subjected to torture and other ill treatment, including severe physical and psychological abuse and prolonged solitary confinement, while being detained without any justification,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns at Amnesty International.

“The Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. Pending his release, the Israeli Prison Service must ensure he is fully protected from abuse, granted adequate medical care and allowed immediate access to independent monitors, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, which must also be granted access to all other Palestinian detainees.”

In violation of its obligations under international law, Israel has denied ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners and detainees since October 2023.

A Lawyer’s Account Reports of Dr Abu Safiya’s deteriorating condition emerged following a visit by a lawyer for Physicians for Human Rights Israel on July 2nd, 2026. The lawyer, Nasser Odeh, said that since Dr Abu Safiya’s transfer to the underground detention facility Rakevet, he has been subjected to daily beatings, threats and other forms of abuse. Odeh reported observing fresh bruises and torture marks on his head and across his body, leaving him barely recognisable, and said he arrived at their meeting with his hands and feet shackled, weak and on the verge of losing consciousness. He said Dr Abu Safiya told him: “This is the last time you’ll see me; they brought me here to kill me.”

“It is utterly reprehensible that a doctor who refused to abandon his patients, and who became one of the most prominent voices denouncing the devastation of Gaza’s healthcare system, remains arbitrarily and unlawfully detained under Israel’s baseless designation as an unlawful combatant,” Guevara Rosas said. “He continues to be deprived of his most fundamental rights, including the right to be protected against torture and other ill treatment, and his rights to a fair trial and due process.”

She added that Israel’s treatment of Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza, including arbitrary detention and torture, has been enabled by the failure of states to take meaningful action, and that expressions of concern alone are little more than a cover for inaction. Amnesty International is calling not only for Dr Abu Safiya’s immediate release but for urgent and effective intervention to save his life.

In a statement given to Amnesty International, Dr Abu Safiya’s son and family spokesperson, Elias, said his father’s health and situation are becoming more critical by the day, and called on the international community, human rights organisations, media and all people of conscience to press for an end to the torture and violations committed against him, urgent medical care, independent monitoring and protection of his fundamental rights. “The world’s silence today could mean the loss of an innocent human life. Time is running out, and we urge you to intervene before it is too late.”

Background Dr Abu Safiya has been arbitrarily detained since December 2024, following an Israeli military raid on Kamal Adwan hospital in the North Gaza governorate. He has since been held without charge or trial under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which authorises indefinitely renewable detention orders against anyone from Gaza suspected of posing a threat to state security, based on classified evidence and without indictment.

On June 16th, 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal for his release, upholding his detention until at least October 2026. Physicians for Human Rights Israel believes the escalating abuse against him is linked to that appeal. He is held in Rakevet, an underground section beneath the Ayalon prison complex where detainees, mostly Palestinians from Gaza, are reportedly subjected to systematic torture and inhumane treatment. The facility was reopened during the current conflict having originally been closed in 1985 over its conditions.

Sources: Amnesty International; Physicians for Human Rights Israel. July 8th, 2026.