A prominent Palestinian doctor, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, remains unaccounted for after being detained by Israeli forces during a military raid last week on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last major health facility operating in northern Gaza. The lack of information about his whereabouts has prompted a human rights group to file a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court, demanding clarity on his detention.
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) filed the petition after the Israeli military denied having any record of Dr. Abu Safiya’s arrest or detention. However, former detainees recently released told CNN that the doctor is being held at Sde Teiman, a military base and detention facility in Israel’s Negev desert, along with other hospital staff.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later told CNN that Dr. Abu Safiya was apprehended for alleged involvement in “terrorist activities” and for holding a position within Hamas. The military also accused him of harboring members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside Kamal Adwan Hospital. However, no evidence supporting these claims has been made public.
The raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital underscores the severe humanitarian toll of Israel’s military actions in northern Gaza. Since early October, Israeli forces have launched ground and aerial operations in the area, targeting what they describe as Hamas strongholds. These operations have resulted in extensive destruction, claiming the lives of entire families, and exacerbating shortages of food, water, and medical supplies.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, which served as a critical lifeline for northern Gaza, had been under near-constant attack for weeks before the December 27 raid. Dr. Abu Safiya had previously told CNN that the hospital had been raided at least six times since October 5, and staff were frequently forced to operate under fire. The doctor, who had been in regular contact with international media, often spoke out about the dire conditions faced by patients and medical personnel and called for the protection of healthcare facilities in Gaza.
Adding to the crisis, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of another hospital in northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital, on Friday. Many patients there, including those with severe injuries and disabilities, were physically unable to leave, according to nurse Rawiya Hussein Tamboora. The facility had previously taken in 23 patients and staff displaced from Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“The Israeli military is all around us, burning homes and buildings, with gunfire hitting the hospital’s windows and walls,” Tamboora told CNN. Despite this, the hospital was ordered to evacuate again, leaving vulnerable patients, including elderly individuals and those with broken limbs, without care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the Indonesian Hospital is no longer functioning, further compounding the region’s healthcare collapse. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the evacuation orders but has not received a response.
Concerns over detention conditions
The disappearance of Dr. Abu Safiya has drawn international condemnation, with UN experts calling on Israel to disclose his whereabouts and respect its obligations as the occupying power in Gaza.
“We are gravely concerned about the fate of Dr. Abu Safiya,” said UN experts in a statement on Thursday. “The heroic actions of Palestinian medical professionals in Gaza show the true meaning of the medical oath. Yet their bravery contrasts sharply with the depraved inhumanity that has allowed this ongoing genocide to persist for over a year.”
The statement also highlighted the alarming toll on Gaza’s healthcare workers, with more than 1,057 medical professionals killed since the conflict escalated.
PHRI has accused the Israeli military and prison authorities of systematically withholding information about Palestinian detainees, a pattern the group says is evident in Dr. Abu Safiya’s case. Amnesty International has echoed these concerns, with Secretary General Agnes Callamard expressing alarm over the doctor’s situation.
“There is a great risk that Dr. Abu Safiya is being subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment,” Callamard wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). She demanded that Israel immediately disclose his location and the charges against him.
Meanwhile, Arab Knesset member Dr. Ahmed Tibi has called on Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to clarify the circumstances of Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention. In a letter, Tibi requested permission to visit the detained hospital director, citing “numerous reports of torture in detention facilities” and the deaths of several detainees in recent months.
Broader implications
The arrest of Dr. Abu Safiya comes amid a broader pattern of attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Gaza, raising serious concerns about violations of international law. Under the Geneva Conventions, hospitals and medical personnel are afforded special protections during armed conflicts. However, the repeated targeting of Kamal Adwan Hospital and the forced evacuations of the Indonesian Hospital suggest a disregard for these principles.
The situation also highlights the challenges faced by Gaza’s healthcare system, which has been under immense strain due to the ongoing blockade, repeated military offensives, and chronic resource shortages. With major hospitals now out of operation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza are left without access to essential medical care.
As the international community continues to call for accountability, the plight of Dr. Abu Safiya has become a symbol of the broader humanitarian crisis facing Gaza. His detention not only raises questions about the treatment of Palestinian detainees but also underscores the urgent need for the protection of medical professionals and facilities in conflict zones.
For now, the fate of Dr. Abu Safiya remains uncertain, and the calls for transparency and justice grow louder. The petition filed by PHRI with Israel’s High Court may provide some answers, but whether it will lead to meaningful accountability remains to be seen.