Gaza Herald — Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza who has been held hostage in Israeli prisons without charge or trial since December 2024, continues to face systemic physical abuse, severe psychological torture, and death threats, according to harrowing testimony taken during a legal visit on Sunday, August 30, 2026.
According to an affidavit filed by his legal counsel, Israeli prison guards have escalated their assault on the renowned pediatrician in recent weeks. Guards have repeatedly subjected Dr. Abu Safiya to severe beatings, striking sensitive areas of his body with their fists, combat boots, and batons. Detention staff also employ deliberate sleep deprivation, broadcasting disruptive noise through prison loudspeakers during the night. Following a previous legal visit, guards violently assaulted Dr. Abu Safiya and threatened retaliatory violence if he disclosed his ongoing torture to his legal representative.
The revelation of his worsening abuse comes as Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) pushes for urgent legal intervention to allow an independent physician to evaluate the doctor’s deteriorating health.
In early July, PHRI formally requested that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) permit internal medicine specialist Dr. Amit Tirosh to conduct an independent medical examination. After Israeli authorities refused to process the request, PHRI petitioned the Administrative Court on Dr. Abu Safiya’s behalf. In response, the IPS requested further delays, a tactic PHRI condemns as a deliberate attempt to obstruct oversight and hide evidence of physical abuse.
Fears Mount Over Doctor’s Deteriorating Health
Concerns for Dr. Abu Safiya’s life intensified after he was transferred on August 10 from the underground “Rakefet” facility, where he was held in solitary confinement, to the notorious IPS medical center at Ramla Prison (Marash). He remained at the facility for a week undergoing evaluations that revealed multiple severe medical complications.
In court filings, PHRI stressed that transferring Dr. Abu Safiya to a dedicated medical wing confirms that his injuries and deteriorating health cannot be managed in standard prison quarters, making an independent second opinion an urgent priority.
This is not the first evidence of severe state-sanctioned violence against the medical director. Previous legal visits revealed visible, extensive injuries to Dr. Abu Safiya’s head, face, and body. Officially released IPS medical logs confirm that he suffered trauma to his left eye and documented his formal complaints regarding severe impact injuries to his head and chest.
“Dr. Abu Safiya’s latest testimony confirms that the pattern of deliberate abuse against him is continuing,” PHRI declared. “He describes ongoing violence, sleep deprivation, and threats aimed at preventing him from reporting the conditions of his detention to his lawyer. The repeated testimonies and mounting evidence of harm only heighten the urgency of allowing an immediate independent medical examination.”
Supreme Court Confronts Unlawful Mass Detention of Gaza Medics
Dr. Abu Safiya’s ordeal is part of a broader petition before the Israeli Supreme Court, where PHRI is challenging the arbitrary, indefinite detention of 14 Palestinian doctors abducted from Gaza’s medical facilities.
The Supreme Court has given the state until September 13 to prove whether the military chief of staff, or a legally authorized representative, personally reviewed the orders to detain the 14 doctors. The court further ordered the state to clarify whether authorities accounted for the doctors’ protected status under international law as healthcare workers.
The case highlights Israel’s systematic targeting and mass abduction of Gaza’s medical personnel, who continue to face enforced disappearance, brutal interrogation tactics, and the total denial of basic human rights inside Israeli detention facilities.
