Seized from a Gaza hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safia still held by Israel a year on Submitted by MEE staff on Sat, 12/27/2025 - 23:18 Rights groups demand freedom for Abu Safia, held by Israel without charge and subjected to torture Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, has been detained by Israel since 27 December 2024 (X) Off Dr Hussam Abu Safia, a 52-year-old Palestinian doctor, has spent a year in Israeli detention without charge or trial after Israeli forces seized him during a raid on a Gaza hospital. Israeli troops kidnapped Abu Safia on 27 December 2024 after storming Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and forcing its evacuation. The assault rendered the medical facility inoperable. Israel has held him ever since under its so-called “illegal combatant” law, which permits indefinite detention without charges and denies detainees access to evidence against them. An Israeli court in Beersheba extended Abu Safia’s detention for six months in March 2025 and again in October 2025, keeping him imprisoned despite no charges ever being brought against him. Family members and rights advocates say Israeli authorities have subjected Abu Safia to torture and degrading treatment. In July, lawyer Ghaid Ghanem Qassem revealed that Safiya had lost over a third of his bodyweight in detention in Israel's notorious Ofer prison, was being brutally beaten and that his repeated requests for medical attention had been refused. He also suffers from serious health conditions, including pre-existing heart disease, high blood pressure, impaired vision and scabies, yet has received no adequate medical care or specialist assessment. The Palestinian Forum in Britain has launched the “Red Ribbons Campaign” to demand Abu Safia’s release, alongside all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Campaigners held a vigil in London on Saturday, calling attention to his case and to the wider system of mass detention. The Red Ribbons Campaign held a vigil in London today to demand the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, including Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been detained by Israel for almost a year. The Red Ribbons Campaign is calling for the release of more than 9,100… pic.twitter.com/Rj0DsRTe59 — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 27, 2025 The campaign says Israel currently holds more than 9,100 Palestinians, including over 450 women and children, many without charge or trial. Abu Safia had refused to leave Kamal Adwan Hospital despite repeated Israeli attacks, choosing to remain with patients and fellow medical staff. Israeli forces later surrounded the hospital and expelled everyone inside. Since his arrest, Israel has transferred him between detention centres, including the notorious Sde Teiman facility and Ofer Prison , where supporters say abuse has continued. Speaking to Al Jazeera via Zoom from Kazakhstan, where the family fled last month, Abu Safia’s eldest son, Ilyas, said his father’s only “crime” was being a doctor. Ilyas said the family stayed at the hospital throughout the attacks, even though his mother, Albina, holds Kazakh citizenship and could have left Gaza. On 26 October 2024, Israeli shelling killed Ilyas’s brother Ibrahim, 20, inside the hospital. “The entire medical staff cried in grief for [my father] and for Ibrahim,” Ilyas said. Israel's genocide in Gaza News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0