October 21, 2025
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is a 51-year-old Palestinian paediatrician, lead physician at MedGlobal, and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Before his arrest, Dr. Abu Safiya also used his social media to share updates on Israeli attacks on the hospital, and provide critical information on the assistance and material needed for the facility to continue operating, as to ensure medical care can be provided to his patients.
On December 27, 2024, Israeli forces conducted a deadly military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last major functioning health facility still operating in northern Gaza, forcing it out of service. Dr. Abu Safiya, who was on duty during the attack, was summoned by the Israeli military, forced to evacuate patients and health care workers, before being arrested and forcibly disappeared.
For over one month, no one had any information about Dr. Abu Safiya’s fate and whereabouts. When human rights organisation Physicians for Human Rights - Israel submitted an inquiry on January 2, 2025, the Israeli authorities denied his detention. It was only on January 5 that they confirmed he was in fact in their custody, while still refusing to disclose his location.
After 45 days of incommunicado detention, Dr. Abu Safiya was finally permitted a first visit from his lawyer. Dr. Abu Safiya described the harrowing details of the psychological and physical torture he had endured at the hands of Israeli forces: he was stripped naked, shackled, repeatedly beaten, and had four of his ribs broken. He was held in solitary confinement for weeks, denied necessary medical care, and subjected to prolonged interrogations without a lawyer lasting up to 13 consecutive days.
Dr. Abu Safiya was detained under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which strips Palestinian detainees of their rights protected under international law, and allows for their indefinite detention, without charge or trial. The text allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians on suspicions of being an “unlawful combatant”, which carries no legal status under international humanitarian law, on the basis of “secret evidence”, which lawyers do not have the right to access or challenge. The Israeli military is not required to issue a detention order for the first 45 days of detention, and detainees are denied access to a lawyer for up to 90 days. The law allows Israeli authorities to hold detainees under indefinitely renewable orders.
Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have relied on the Unlawful Combatants Law to detain thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of healthcare workers, contributing to the decimation and collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, which is a component of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention order was last extended for six months on October 16, 2025, despite the hope sparked by the release of Palestinians as part of the October 2025 announcement of a ceasefire agreement.
MENA Rights Group petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, urging the group of UN experts to rule Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention as arbitrary under international law, and to call on Israeli authorities to release him immediately.
