TEL AVIV, Israel — The attorney representing a well-known Palestinian physician held by Israeli forces for the past 18 months is raising urgent alarms about his client’s deteriorating health and alleged mistreatment in custody, according to the human rights organization handling his case.
Hussam Abu Safiya, who served as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, became a prominent symbol of healthcare workers struggling to care for patients throughout the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Abu Safiya guided the hospital through an 85-day military siege, recording and releasing video messages pleading for international assistance before he was taken into custody in December 2024. He has not faced any formal charges.
The Israeli military has stated that Abu Safiya, who is 53 years old, is under investigation on suspicion of cooperating with or being affiliated with Hamas. Staff members and international aid organizations who worked alongside him have disputed those claims.
The human rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Abu Safiya’s attorney, Nasser Odeh, reported that during a visit on July 2, Abu Safiya appeared severely weakened and was unable to sit up without difficulty. Odeh noted that his client had fresh injuries around his eyes, ears, and neck, and was having trouble breathing.
Both Odeh and Physicians for Human Rights Israel have filed petitions seeking to have Abu Safiya moved to a different detention facility.
Following an appearance before Israel’s Supreme Court last month — where his continued detention without charges was challenged — Odeh stated that Abu Safiya had endured both physical and psychological mistreatment and had been held in solitary confinement for extended stretches of time.
Abu Safiya appeared briefly via video link during that court hearing, visibly pale and thin, with marks resembling welts visible on both of his arms.
Israel’s Prison Service dismissed the claims as “false and entirely without factual basis.” While declining to address the specifics of the case due to privacy concerns, the agency stated that all individuals in its custody are held in compliance with the law and receive medical attention in line with Ministry of Health standards.
“The Israel Prison Service rejects allegations of abuse, torture, starvation, or denial of medical treatment,” the prison service said in a statement.
Israel has faced mounting international criticism over how Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been treated since the conflict with Hamas began in October 2023. Both human rights organizations and the United Nations have alleged that patterns of abuse have been widespread and systematic.
The number of Palestinians held in Israeli detention rose sharply after the war began, with thousands still remaining behind bars. Reporting has previously documented deeply troubling conditions within those facilities.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when the Gaza-based militant group carried out an attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 individuals hostage. In the Israeli military campaign that followed, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
