Gaza Herald – The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to urgently intervene and secure immediate access to detained Palestinian doctors Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, warning that both doctors face serious risks to their lives due to torture and the denial of medical care in Israeli custody.
In a statement issued Sunday, the rights organization said it had received credible information indicating that the two physicians have suffered severe physical abuse, including repeated beatings, prolonged deprivation of medical treatment, and other forms of mistreatment. Euro-Med Monitor warned that there are growing fears that the doctors could die under torture while held in Israeli detention and interrogation facilities.
The organization stressed that Dr. Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and Dr. Al-Hams, director of Gaza’s field hospitals, are civilian medical personnel protected under international humanitarian law, making their immediate release a legal obligation rather than a matter of discretion.
Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that allowing the ICRC to visit the detainees should not be viewed as a substitute for their release, but rather as an urgent minimum step to help prevent further abuse. It held Israel fully responsible for the doctors’ safety, health, and fate, while urging the international community to take immediate and effective action to secure their release and ensure their protection.
According to Palestinian rights organizations, approximately 9,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli detention camps, including administrative detainees, individuals classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants,” and numerous detainees from the Gaza Strip whose whereabouts remain unknown.
