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Palestinian doctor held without charge has life-threatening condition
Elyas Abu Safia said his father Hussam Abu Safia can barely breathe or speak after more than 555 days in Israeli prison. Physicians for Human Rights Israel reported severe injuries and demanded his release.
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The son of a Palestinian doctor held by Israel without charge said his father’s health has sharply deteriorated after more than 555 days in prison. Elyas Abu Safia stated in a video message on Sunday that his father, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, showed signs of severe abuse after transfer to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.
He said a lawyer who visited the father two days earlier reported that the detainee was unable to breathe or speak.
Conditions described by rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that the doctor’s life is in immediate danger after his transfer to the Rakefet section of Nitzan prison. The group said the lawyer documented fresh bruises on the head, eyes, ears and neck, along with difficulty breathing and repeated loss of consciousness.
Israeli authorities have not filed charges against the doctor. They classified him as an “unlawful combatant,” a designation used to hold Palestinians for prolonged periods without trial.
Israel demanded the doctor’s release along with other imprisoned Palestinian doctors. United Nations experts called for his immediate release and medical care in March. Elyas Abu Safia accused Arab and Muslim leaders of abandoning his father, stating their silence amounted to complicity in his treatment.