It has been one year since Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician and hospital director, was arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces.
Dr. Abu Safiyah’s arrest and ongoing arbitrary detention reflect Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the decimation of the healthcare system in the occupied Gaza Strip. While in detention, he has faced torture and other ill-treatment, like so many Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli custody.
On December 27, 2024, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, the last major medical facility still functioning in northern Gaza at the time. During the raid, they detained the hospital’s director, Dr. Abu Safiya, a widely respected pediatrician known for working under extremely challenging conditions to care for children amid bombardment, shortages, and the collapse of Gaza’s health infrastructure.
Just days before his arrest, Dr. Abu Safiya was interviewed by The New York Times about the rapidly escalating attacks on medical facilities and staff. He was then detained and continues to be held without charge or trial under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, a framework that denies meaningful due process, legalizes incommunicado detention and enables enforced disappearance.
A Case That Symbolizes a Wider Pattern
During Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers who have also been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. Israel’s long-standing, widespread and systematic use of torture against Palestinians stems from the state’s policy of domination and oppression of the Palestinian population, intended to maintain Israel’s system of apartheid.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system are rooted in a policy that deliberately imposes conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians and are part and parcel of Israel’s genocide.
Deliberate actions by Israeli forces have contributed to the effective collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. This includes the damage and destruction of health facilities, mass “evacuation” orders applied to healthcare facilities and repeated raids on hospitals that resulted in the detention, killing or injury of staff. At the same time, hospitals have been grappling with skyrocketing needs for the thousands of conflict-related injuries as well as rising rates of severe malnutrition, dehydration, and disease.
One Year Too Long: Free Dr. Abu Safiya Now
Amnesty International is concerned about Dr. Abu Safiya’s health and well-being while he remains in Israeli custody. A lawyer who visited him in July 2025 reported that he had been subjected to physical abuse. The lawyer also observed significant weight loss, which appeared to result from severe restrictions on food, medical care, and basic hygiene. Dr. Abu Safiya’s experience is not isolated. It reflects the broader risks faced by Palestinian health workers in detention and the pressures on Gaza’s medical system. The combination of attacks on healthcare facilities and the treatment of detained medical staff illustrates a pattern of undermining those who provide critical care under extremely difficult conditions.
Dr. Abu Safiya should never have been detained in the first place, let alone be subjected to this ordeal of torture and other abuses. He is a physician who has dedicated his life to caring for children in Gaza. Israel must immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Abu Safiya and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
We must continue to fight for the unconditional and immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiyah and all other arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
How you can demand Dr. Safiya’s release
This is a moment that demands we take urgent action. Please take the following actions to press for Dr. Abu Safiya’s release and encourage others to do the same. The power of collective action can make a real difference and bring Dr. Abu Safiya home to his family.