Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya director of Kamal Adwan hospital, a brave man whose life’s work revolves around healing and saving lives, has been unjustly targeted and arrested by the Israeli army under false pretexts and detained by Israeli forces along with over 240 others who had taken shelter in the hospital, including medical staff, patients and the wounded. during a raid on the hospital on 27 December.
This was after Dr. Abu Safiya refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients and the displaced people at Kamal Adwan hospital, even after the Israeli occupation murdered his son, bombed his house and injured him.
Several medical staff were burned alive in fires ignited during the raid, while patients and medics were stripped of their clothing and forced to leave the hospital on foot.
According to the Israeli military, all activities will reportedly be transferred to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which has effectively become the only major functioning hospital north of Gaza City.
Dr. Abu Safiya is a hero who for months has been the voice of Gaza’s decimated health sector, appealing for the protection of his hospital and working under inhumane conditions. He also refused a chance to leave the Strip and travel abroad, confirming that he will always abide by his humanitarian duty, even if it will lead to his murder or detention.
The raid, the latest in a series of attacks on healthcare facilities in North Gaza over the past two months, put Kamal Adwan, the last remaining major hospital in the area, out of service. Kamal Adwan hospital is now a site of crimes against humanity while 50,000 Palestinians in north Gaza are currently without healthcare.
Since the beginning of its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial. Health workers have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention,violating their fundamental rights. Hospitals and health workers are not legitimate targets; they are protected under international humanitarian law. None of this is acceptable.
Amnesty International has called on the international community, especially Israel’s allies, to act against these crimes against humanity. The organization emphasized the need for urgent and concrete steps to stop Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, underscoring the profound scars this situation is leaving on the conscience of humanity. “Hospitals and health workers are not targets. The international community must act to halt Israel’s attacks in Gaza and ensure justice is served.”
In the last photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya in just one image, we see both the power of Palestinian humanity and the moral weakness of all those complicit in genocide.We see him in his white lab coat walking unarmed through the wreckage of the Kamal Adwan hospital he ran , the last functioning one in northern Gaza, towards two tanks, their gun-barrels aimed at him before his arrest.
According to an eyewitness, Israeli soldiers flogged Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh with a street electrical cable (worse than a whip) According to a freed detainee, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh has been transferred to the notorious Sde Teiman prison, in Israel’s Negev desert where Palestinians have been Sodomized and tortured. Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh was executed in this same facility.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2024/05/prominent-gaza-doctor-adnan-al-bursh.html We must not allow Dr. Hussam to face same fate.
This current incident reflects the harsh reality of the occupation’s tactics criminalizing doctors, aid workers, and anyone who dares to stand for humanity under the guise of unfounded accusations.
In an attempt to justify atrocities at Adwan Hospital, the Israeli army put out a statement on Saturday confirming that they arrested Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya under the claim of being a “terrorist operative” and a ‘colonel in Hamas’ and claimed that the hospital was being used by Hamas as a “command and control center.” The military did not provide any evidence to support the claims.
The absurdity of labeling this man likes this reveals the depth of propaganda used to justify these actions. It’s not just an attack on Dr. Hussam; it’s an attack on the very principles of humanity, medical ethics, and the sanctity of saving lives.
They even published a video showing themselves as ethical with him, after beating him, killing tens of thousands, and displacing them. Then they will do to him what they did to Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh. In the end, they will say, “Did you see? We treated him well and asked him how he was doing.” Shame on them.
This arrest is yet another example of the systemic oppression faced by Palestinians, where even hospitals and those who serve in them are not spared from the occupation’s brutality. Dr. Hussam’s courage, standing firm despite the risks, symbolizes the resilience of a people who refuse to give up their humanity in the face of injustice.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya embodies the spirit of resilience that flows through every vein of Palestine. His refusal to abandon his patients, his courage to stand unarmed against forces of destruction, echo the timeless story of a people who refuse to kneel.
In Palestine every olive tree whispers defiance, and every stone is a witness to a legacy of sacrifice. The oppressor may destroy walls, take lives, and silence voices, but they cannot extinguish the spirit of a nation built on faith, dignity, and unwavering hope.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya now detained in illegal Israeli prisons, the world remains silent. His courage deserves action, not apathy. Keep asking. Keep his name trending. Sometimes a horror can be distilled into one face, one name. Write Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya's name.
An emergency rally is being held tonight (Monday 30 Dec) outside the US embassy in London to demand the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and other illegally-detained medics and patients from the now-destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Reports indicate that at least some of the detainees have been tortured.
Emergency Protests for Palestine are also been held in other parts of the country including these ones on Tuesday 31 December at Haverfordwest, 1pm, Withybush Retail Park, Swansea, 2pm, Barclays, Oxford St. Cardiff, 11pm, National Museum.
We must demand from our leaders that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other detained health workers must be released immediately and unconditionally.None should be harmed. Health workers are not a target, and impunity for Israel's destruction of Palestinian healthcare must end, and it's also more than time to end all arms sales to Israel right now.
Israeli is an apartheid state engaged in genocide (as detailed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among others). It has also been demonstrated that a disproportionate number of the dozens of thousands of civilians the IDF has intentionally killed are children and babies.
The following image is from Jabalia after Palestinians were displaced from Kamal Adwan hospitals. This is not humanity. This is not ‘defence’. This is not war. This is inhumane. This is terrorism. This is genocide. People everywhere of conscience must speak up against the horrors currently unfolding. End the occupation. Free Palestine. .
Please sign the following petition Israel Must Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.
Excellent piece Dave.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya a hero in white robes whose story moved my father to tears last night, a former GP who had not heard this story in the mainstream news. We must keep telling it.
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