Israeli Court Upholds Detention of Gaza Hospital Director Accused of Hamas Ties

Hussam Abu Safiya, the 52-year-old director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, appeared frail and thinner during a June video-linked Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem, Cbc reported. The pediatrician has remained in Israeli custody without charge since December 2024. His sister Samahir Abu Safiya said a circulated photo of him shocked the family.

She stated they did not expect him to be in that condition and that it shook them. Lawyer Nasser Odeh visited Abu Safiya on July 2 at the underground Rakevet facility beneath the Ayalon prison complex. Odeh reported seeing fresh bruises and torture marks on his head and body, with Abu Safiya arriving shackled and appearing weak.

Abu Safiya told Odeh that the visit would be the last and that authorities brought him there to kill him. An Israel Prison Service spokesperson told Reuters on July 9 that the allegations were false, outrageous and without factual basis. Abu Safiya's son Elias said his father could die in custody after a head injury and that his health was becoming more critical each day.

Cbc reported that at least 14 doctors from Gaza have been detained without charge or trial for more than a year, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel. United Nations experts and Amnesty International have called for the immediate release of Abu Safiya and other health-care workers.

Abu Safiya led the hospital through an 85-day siege before Israeli troops raided the facility on December 27, 2024, and took him and dozens of others prisoner.

Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal for his release last month based on confidential materials under the unlawful combatants law. The Israel Defence Forces accused Abu Safiya of membership in Hamas and involvement in terrorist activities while hundreds of militants hid inside the hospital. Gaza's Health Ministry and Hamas denied the claim.