From inside an underground Israeli detention facility, with his features barely recognizable after severe beatings, Palestinian doctor and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya said he had been transferred to another prison in preparation for his murder.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel say Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, is in immediate danger of dying in Israeli detention. His lawyer, Nasser Odeh, who visited him on July 2 at the underground Rakefet interrogation unit inside Nitzan Prison said he barely recognized the man brought before him, shackled hand and foot, flanked by masked guards, his head, eyes, ears and neck covered in fresh injuries. Abu Safiya struggled to breathe and speak, couldn’t sit upright without nearly collapsing, and seemed close to losing consciousness. He was too frightened to speak freely. He told his lawyer: "This is the last time you will see me... They brought me here to kill me. I do not see myself leaving here alive. This is the end."
No sentence should ever have to carry that much pain. No doctor, whose hands were devoted to saving lives, should have to utter those words.
According to the affidavit, guards entered his solitary cell after his Supreme Court hearing and beat him with a hammer and batons. Since his transfer to Rakefet on June 24 he has been beaten daily, repeatedly to the point of losing consciousness, with no medical care.
The selfless and heroic Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya dedicated his life to saving children and the wounded in Gaza’s shattered hospitals, only to be ripped from Kamal Adwan Hospital in a brutal raid, detained without charge or trial since December 2024, and subjected to torture, medical neglect, freezing cells, and endless suffering.
Dr Abu Safiya, became the face of Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system. Throughout repeated assaults on Kamal Adwan Hospital, he refused to abandon his patients.Each time the hospital was raided or forced out of service, he and his colleagues fought to reopen it.
During the siege of northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan became the final functioning major hospital serving an estimated 75,000 people. Dr Abu Safiya continued treating the wounded, starving children, malnourished infants and critically ill patients while documenting the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding around him. Even after he himself was injured and after his son was killed, he refused to leave.
On 27th December 2024, Israeli forces raided the hospital once again, detained Dr Abu Safiya alongside staff and patients, and rendered the last major hospital in northern Gaza inoperable.
His lawyer and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI ) are demanding his immediate transfer, an independent medical examination and his release, warning that any delay could cost him his life.
Held in facilities like the notorious Negev detention center in southern Israel, he was abducted alongside other medical staff, patients, and even a fellow paramedic, Hatem Ismail Rayyan, who recently died in the same prison after 14 months of detention, highlighting the deadly risks faced by these detainees.
His wife Albina, has issued desperate pleas to the world, insisting that his only “crime” was upholding his medical oath by saving the lives of the wounded, including children playing amid rubble, and refusing to evacuate despite evacuation orders.
She demands urgent intervention before he succumbs to his deteriorating health, echoing fears from his family that his life hangs by a thread without immediate action.
Global organizations like HW4 Palestine, Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch, UN Human Rights council, Doctors against Genocide, Hind Rajab Foundation, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and many others have called for an urgent independent medical examination, immediate intervention and Dr Abu Safiya’s release. Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, and advocacy groups have amplified these calls, organizing open letters, protests, and campaigns for his release, emphasizing that his detention has further crippled Gaza’s already decimated healthcare infrastructure.
Fact-checks from outlets like Al Jazeera have debunked smear campaigns against him, including unsubstantiated Israeli claims repeated in media like The New York Post that he or the hospital were linked to militant activities, allegations dismissed as falsehoods amid a broader pattern of targeting Palestinian medical workers.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s words from Ofer prison are clear: “My only crime is being a doctor.” He, along with more than 100 doctors and nurses, is being punished simply for carrying the duty of treating Gaza’s wounded.
Imagine the hands that healed Gaza’s tiniest hearts, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, pediatrician, hero, now chained in a frozen Israeli cell since December 2024. No charges. Just torture: beatings, starvation, medical neglect pushing his exhausted body to the brink. His lawyer warns: every silent day edges him closer to death. This isn’t justice. It’s erasure! The doctor who braved bombs to save children is being broken for daring to care. But we won’t let him vanish.
From any country stand in solidarity with Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya . From streets to screens, from hospitals to universties, amplify his cry. Share, shout, demand freedom.
Your voice could thaw his hell, mend his wounds, restore hope. One billion strong, we rise for the healers, the innocent, the oppressed. Speaking about him could save his life. Silence kills.
Israel classifies Abu Safiya as a Hamas officer. In 18 months of detention it has produced no charge, no evidence, and no trial. His appeal was heard June 10 and rejected days later behind closed doors, on secret intelligence neither he nor his lawyers may see. The Israel Prisons Service says it operates within the law under judicial review and examines every complaint under protocol.
Haaretz’s own editorial board, not a Palestinian advocacy group, has told the Israeli state to indict Abu Safiya or release him. A charge requires proof. Proof invites scrutiny of what happened at Kamal Adwan — the siege, the bombed wards, the children who died for want of oxygen. Abu Safiya is not only a doctor. He is a witness, one of 14 Gazan doctors held without charge, among more than 1,300 Palestinians disappeared into the same law. His is the face the world can see. Most cannot.
Arm yourself with knowledge to counter the propagandist lies:
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is NOT a member of Hamas. He is a neonatal Paediatrician and a member of the Medical Services Corp, historically under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority.
This position carries with it the default rank of Colonel. His branch, which operates out of Gaza, was under the authority of the governing body of Gaza; Hamas.
This does not make him a member of Hamas. This does not make him a legitimate military target. Medics, even military medics, are not legitimate military targets, in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
He is as much a member of Hamas as a pre school teacher working under the Gaza Ministry of Education teaching 4 year old children to read. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya wore a white coat to save lives, not chains to lose his freedom. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya stands as a symbol of conscience, compassion, and courage, now trapped while humanity watches.
His courage reflects the quiet strength of the Palestinian people — choosing care over fear, duty over despair. This is not one man's story. It is the story of every doctor who chose duty over fear. Of every family waiting. Of every soul that still believes dignity must be protected. Raise your voice. Because silence helps oppression, but voices create change.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya stood where humanity was collapsing, refusing to abandon his patients even as hospitals were turned into targets and death surrounded every corridor.
While others measured survival by minutes, he measured it by the number of children he could still save. Now the man who healed the wounded has become one of them.
A physician should never become a prisoner for choosing compassion over fear. A healer should never have to wonder whether tomorrow will come. The world celebrates those who save lives, until the lives being saved are Palestinian.
“They brought me here to kill me.” Those words are more than a plea. They are an indictment of a silence that has lasted far too long. They force us to ask what remains of our humanity when the doctor becomes the victim, when mercy is punished, and when those who dedicate their lives to others are left to face unimaginable suffering alone.History remembers the names of those who refused to abandon their people. It also remembers those who looked away.
This is the story of every healer targeted, every life silenced, every act of humanity crushed under occupation. Dr. Hussam once held dying children in his arms and gave them hope. Now the world must hold his name in our voices so he doesn’t die forgotten in an Israeli dungeon. From every corner of the globe, speak his name. Share his story. Tag friends, flood timelines, demand his immediate release. One voice becomes a chorus.
A billion voices become unstoppable. Speaking about him could save his life. Silence costs lives. Anyone still siding with Israel and shielding them from international condemnation is guilty of aiding and abetting the torture of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all those held hostage in Israeli dungeons.
The world has a moral duty to free human beings from this level of savagery. This isn’t just another forgotten headline in the fog of conflict, it’s a stark reminder of the human cost. Dr. Abu Safiya’s story, captured in viral images of him walking barefoot through rubble toward his captors, demands we don’t look away.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya threatens Israel just by the depth of his humanity and dignity. They fear him as a symbol of the future they have worked tirelessly to deny his people. He represents to them the defiance of the ethno-supremacist barbarism they have and continue to erroneously conflate with human progress.
The world must not allow yet another doctor to be murdered ! This is not a one off. It's part of Israel’s systematic campaign of mass arrest and imprisonment that has gotten much worse since 2023. His case is not unique. Hundreds of Palestinians, including healthcare workers, have been detained during the genocide, with many subjected to enforced disappearance and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.
Across Gaza, hospitals have been repeatedly attacked and the healthcare system has been systematically devastated despite the special protections afforded to medical facilities and personnel under international humanitarian law.
Medical neutrality is one of the oldest and most fundamental principles of medicine. It demands that healthcare workers are protected, not targeted; that hospitals are sanctuaries, not battlefields; and that doctors are never punished for treating the sick and injured.
When a doctor who dedicated his life to saving children is reportedly beaten, tortured, denied medical care and left fearing for his life, silence is not professional neutrality. It is a failure of moral leadership. This is why Britain’s medical institutions must speak with one voice.
The Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association, the GMC, NHS leaders, universities, trade unions and every organisation claiming to uphold medical ethics should publicly demand the protection of healthcare workers wherever they are threatened.
Their silence in the face of allegations concerning fellow clinicians undermines the universal principles upon which medicine is built.
The UK Government has clear responsibilities. It should publicly call for the immediate protection and release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya; demand independent medical and legal access; press for a full, impartial investigation into allegations of torture and mistreatment; work to ensure accountability where international law has been violated; and ensure that the United Kingdom fully complies with its obligations under international humanitarian law and the Genocide Convention.
These are not partisan demands. They are demands rooted in the protection of human life, medical ethics and the rule of law. Every day that passes without meaningful international action increases the risk that Dr Abu Safiya will become another doctor who does not survive detention. History remembers those who defended humanity when it mattered most.
The question now is whether Britain’s Government and its medical profession will choose to stand with a doctor who risked everything for his patients—or remain silent while his lawyer warns that he may not survive.
At present, Israel holds more than 9,000 Palestinian political prisoners in detention, including 350 children.They face systematic torture, sexual violence, and ill-treatment. Often they are held without charge. Dr. Marwan Al-Hams is also facing daily torture sessions.
According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Dr. Al-Hams is being subjected to severe torture that stopped his heart and is putting his life in immediate danger. Palestinian doctors are being held hostage in Israeli dungeons for saving lives during the genocide.
The Hippocratic Oath exposes the hypocrisy of the world as it insists on remaining silent.
May Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s voice never be buried beneath the rubble of indifference. Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh was tortured to death in Israeli prisons. Save Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Marwan Al-Hams before they meet the same fate.
Please call on the Government to: -
Demand Dr. Abu Safiya’s immediate access to emergency hospitalisation and an independent medical evaluation
- Demand Dr. Abu Safiya’s immediate release from detention
- Ensure Dr. Abu Safiya’s transfer to hospital includes access to his family and and legal counsel
- Demand the release of all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and immediate sanctions
ACT NOW:
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