Israel / OPT: ‘Imminent threat to life’ – fears mounting for detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya

• Fresh testimony from Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s lawyer indicates that there is an “imminent threat to his life” due to torture and other ill-treatment in Israeli custody
• Amnesty International is calling for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s immediate and unconditional release
• ‘The world's silence today could mean the loss of an innocent human life’ – Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s son, Elias

Israeli authorities must immediately release the arbitrarily detained Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, Amnesty International said today, amidst reports from a lawyer who visited him that there is an imminent threat to his life as a result of torture and other ill-treatment he has been suffering while in Israeli custody.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya has been arbitrarily detained in Israeli jails for over 18 months – without charge or trial – since 27 December 2024, when he was arrested while on duty at his hospital in Gaza City.

Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International said:

“The details emerging about the deteriorating conditions of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s detention are truly horrifying. We are deeply alarmed by the reports from his lawyer indicating that his life is at imminent risk amidst his ongoing unlawful detention. It is unconscionable that a paediatrician, who has dedicated his life to saving others in the occupied Gaza Strip, is being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment – including severe physical and psychological abuse and prolonged solitary confinement – while being detained without any justification.

"The Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. Pending his release, the Israeli Prison Service must ensure he is fully protected from abuse, granted adequate medical care and allowed immediate access to independent monitors, including the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), which must also be granted access to all other Palestinian detainees.”

In blatant violation of its obligations under international law, Israel has denied ICRC visits to Palestinian prisoners and detainees since October 2023.

Reports of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s deteriorating conditions and the severe abuse he is enduring at the hands of the Israeli Prison Service emerged following a visit by a lawyer for Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) on 2 July 2026. The lawyer, Nasser Odeh, stated that since Dr Abu Safiya’s transfer to the notorious underground detention facility Rakevet, he has been subjected to daily beatings, threats and to other forms of abuse.

Attorney Nasser Odeh reported observing fresh bruises and torture marks on Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s head and across his body, leaving him barely recognisable. He also said that Dr Hussam Abu Safiya arrived at their meeting with his hands and feet shackled. In his chilling account, Nasser Odeh described him as weak and on the verge of losing consciousness. He further reported that Dr Hussam Abu Safiya told him: “This is the last time you’ll see me… they brought me here to kill me.”

In response, Erika Guevara Rosas said:

“The lawyer’s testimony must serve as an urgent wake-up call for states around the world, particularly Israel’s allies. It is utterly reprehensible that a doctor who refused to abandon his patients, and who became one of the most prominent voices denouncing the devastation of Gaza’s healthcare system, remains arbitrarily and unlawfully detained under Israel’s baseless designation as an ‘unlawful combatant’. He continues to be deprived of his most fundamental rights, including the right to be protected against torture and other ill-treatment, and his rights to a fair trial and due process.

“Israel’s inhumane treatment of Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza, including arbitrary detention and torture, has been enabled by the deliberate failure of states to take meaningful action, both in the face of Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, and assault on Palestinian healthcare workers; conduct that forms part of the key patterns of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Expressions of concern alone are little more than a cynical fig leaf for states’ inaction in the face of Israel’s crushing of Palestinians’ human rights. Amnesty, alongside other human rights organizations, is not simply calling for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s immediate release. This is a call for urgent and effective intervention to save his life.”

In a statement given to Amnesty by Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s son, Elias, the family spokesperson, said:

“[My father] is currently living through critical moments between life and death… [His] health and situation are becoming more critical day by day. We call on the international community, human rights organizations, media, and all people of conscience to take immediate and urgent actions to press for an immediate end to torture and all other violations committed against my father, the provision of urgent medical care, the ability to monitor his condition through independent legal and humanitarian channels and the guarantee of his protection and respect for his fundamental rights.

“The world's silence today could mean the loss of an innocent human life. Time is running out, and we urge you to intervene before it is too late.”

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya has been arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities since December 2024 after a raid by the Israeli military on the Kamal Adwan hospital in the North Gaza governorate. Since then, he has been detained without charges or trial under the cruel and abusive Unlawful Combatants Law, which authorises the military to issue indefinitely renewable detention orders against anyone from Gaza suspected of posing a threat to state security or engagement in hostile activities, based on classified evidence and without having to produce an indictment.

On 16 June 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Dr Hussam Abu Safiya for his release, upholding the continuation of his detention until at least October 2026. PHRI believes that the escalating attacks against Dr Hussam Abu Safiya are linked to his appeal and his attempts to challenge his detention at court.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is being held in Rakevet detention centre, an underground section beneath the Ayalon prison complex, where detainees, mostly Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, are subjected to systematic torture and inhumane treatment. The detention centre was re-opened during the genocide having been originally closed in 1985 for its inhumane conditions.