Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya – A Prisoner of Haqq

Introduction:

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a 52-year-old Palestinian pediatrician and the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, is now serving over 18 months of arbitrary detention without charge by the Israeli military.

He has been subjected to systematic torture, severe physical abuse and solitary confinement in Nitzan Prison. His health has critically deteriorated, with medical professionals warning he faces a risk of “imminent death.”

His only “crime” is his refusal to abandon his patients during the Israeli assault on Gaza, where he provided care to wounded and starving children despite the destruction of his hospital.

Background: The Healing Warden of Gaza’s North:

Dr. Abu Safiya dedicated his life to pediatric care at Kamal Adwan Hospital, which became a critical refuge for the civilian population in northern Gaza under siege.

Known as the “Healing Warden,” he was a relentless advocate for the hospital’s operation, often broadcasting its dire conditions to the international media in a desperate plea for supplies and safety.

On December 27, 2024, the Israeli military raided Kamal Adwan Hospital – one of the last functioning medical facilities in the north – forcibly evacuating patients and personnel. Dr. Abu Safiya was arrested on the spot and detained alongside dozens of patients, including hundreds of children.

He was seized because he represented the “line in the sand” for the protection of medical neutrality and the right to healthcare, a fundamental tenet of international law.

Government’s Crackdown, Torture and Imprisonment:

Dr. Abu Safiya is one of an estimated 14 Palestinian doctors still held by Israel, part of a larger group of nearly 400 healthcare workers detained since October 2023. His case was referred to, and declared “arbitrary,” by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

He is held under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which permits indefinite, renewable detention without trial or charge, despite there being no evidence of any wrongdoing.

According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, and his lawyer Nasser Odeh, his treatment has been brutal and systematic:

• Physical Abuse: He has been beaten with batons and subjected to electric shock sticks, resulting in four fractured ribs.
• Malnutrition: He has lost over 40 kilograms (approx. 88 pounds) due to a starvation diet, causing severe weight loss and muscle atrophy.
• Isolation: He has been in solitary confinement in the high-security Nitzan Prison, where he is deprived of daylight and human contact.
• Denial of Medical Care: He has been systematically denied critical medical examination for his deteriorating health, which his lawyer has described as close to collapse.

In a recent meeting with his lawyer, Dr. Abu Safiya conveyed a message of despair, stating, “This is the last time you’ll see me… They brought me here to kill me. This is the end.”

Imprisonment and Global Inaction:

Despite the U.N.’s determination that his detention is illegal and explicit warnings of imminent death from human rights groups, Dr. Abu Safiya remains incarcerated. The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected appeals for his release based on classified materials.

The detention of Dr. Abu Safiya is part of a wider, calculated assault on the Palestinian people. Reports from the U.N. and legal experts confirm a pattern of “reproductive genocide” aimed at destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life to continue, including the systematic destruction of the healthcare system, which he represented.

His imprisonment is a direct assault on the medical profession and the fundamental human right to health. Dr. Abu Safiya is not a “combatant” but, through the act of caring for life, he is a symbol of resistance to the erasure of Palestinian existence.

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