CONCERNS are growing for the safety of a hospital director in Gaza who was detained by Israeli forces.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, 51, was arrested by Israeli forces during their raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya – which was Gaza’s last operational major health facility - on Friday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it lost contact with Abu Safiya following a raid, which also saw the Israeli military force out dozens of medical staff and patients.
According to a CNN report, he is being held at an army base doubling as a detention facility with the Israeli military confirming he had been arrested as he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative”.
He has reportedly been taken to the Sde Teiman detention camp with the director of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, Dr Munir al-Boursh, citing several witness accounts saying the doctor had been seen in detention at the prison with several injuries.
The UN has previously described "illegal and revolting" reports of torture and sexual violence at Sde Teiman.
Abu Safiya’s son, Idress Abu Safiya said on Monday: “We are so worried, we haven’t been able to sleep for three days because we didn’t know until today where he is.”
A number of human rights organisations have expressed concerns about Abu Safiya’s safety, with the WHO saying it was “appalled” by the Israeli raid on the hospital.
The secretary general of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard said on Twitter/X: “We at @amnesty are extremely concerned over the fate & wellbeing of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwar hospital who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on December 27.
“He must be released immediately and unconditionally.
We at @amnesty are extremely concerned over the fate & wellbeing of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on 27 December. He must be released immediately and unconditionally. For… pic.twitter.com/lB6ymeNlPJ
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 30, 2024
"For months Dr. Abu Safiya has been the voice of Gaza’s decimated health sector, appealing for the protection of his hospital and working under inhumane conditions, including following the killing of his son.
"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. 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.
"Israel must immediately release all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, including health workers. Hospitals and health workers are not targets.
"The int'l community esp Israel's allies must act to bring an end to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza."
Many doctors on Twitter/X have also called for Abu Safiya’s release while Rohan Talbot, the director of advocacy and campaigns with Medical Aid for Palestinians, said leaders “must demand the immediate and safe release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and all detained Gaza health workers”.
Doctors on social media shared messages calling for Abu Safiya’s release and called for the “protection of hospitals and medical workers in Gaza”.
“Health workers are not a target, and impunity for Israel’s destruction of Palestinian healthcare must end.”
Elsewhere, MP and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn shared the last image taken of Abu Safiya.
It showed the doctor walking towards Israeli tanks during Israel’s raid on the hospital.
Corbyn said: “The last photo of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, detained after refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients.
“In just one image, we see both the power of Palestinian humanity and the moral weakness of all those complicit in genocide.
“End to all arms sales to Israel, now.”
