Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital and a prominent voice of Gaza’s decimated healthcare sector, is still being arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities since his arrest on 27 December. Following a court hearing on Tuesday, 28 April 2026, the Israeli court approved the extension of Abu Safiya’s detention under the Unlawful Combatant Law without filing any charges against him, rejecting the defence’s request for his immediate release. Abu Safiya continues to be held in Negev Prison under harsh conditions and is being denied access to his essential medication and adequate medical treatment, despite his deteriorating health.
What’s the problem?
On 27 December 2024, Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital—the last functioning hospital in North Gaza at the time—and arrested the hospital’s director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya along with other medical staff and patients.
Dr. Abu Safiya had been tirelessly running the hospital, providing essential care to children and bearing witness to the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare sector under Israel’s genocide. He continued his work even after the tragic death of his own son during an Israeli airstrike. Like many health workers before him, he was detained while caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties
Not until 11 February 2025 did Israeli authorities allow Dr. Abu Safiya to meet with a legal counsel. In the latest visit by a lawyer to Ofer military prison in early July 2025, she reported that Dr. Hussam and other detainees were subjected to assault and beatings. She also stated that Dr. Abu Safiya showed signs of significant weight loss as the Israeli Prison Service continues to impose severe restrictions on Palestinian detainees’ access to food, adequate medical care and hygiene.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s arrest and ongoing arbitrary detention without charges or trial – based on the abusive Unlawful Combatants’ Law – is a reflection of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the decimation of the healthcare system in Gaza in order to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians.
What can you do to help?
Act now and call on Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinian health workers.
