‘Held Hostage’: Dr. Abu Safiya’s Arbitrary Detention Extended by Six Months

October 16, 2025 News
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, seen from inside detention (Photo: Social media).

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Al-Mezan legal rights center says Dr Abu Safiyya’s prolonged detention without charges “amid documented accounts of torture, indicates that he is being held as a hostage.”

An Israeli military court has extended the administrative detention of Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safiya for an additional six months, his legal representative and family confirmed on Thursday.

Dr. Abu Safiya’s family has expressed deep concern over his arbitrary detention without charge or trial, since he was abducted from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza by Israeli occupation forces in December last year.

The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, which represents the hospital director, said in a statement that it was “extremely worried” about his situation, noting that he was not included in the group of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released by Israel as part of the recent ceasefire agreement.

“The prolonged detention without charges of Dr. Abu Safiya, amid documented accounts of torture, inhumane detention conditions, and the absence of any indication of release, indicates that he is being held as a hostage,” Al Mezan said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘Political Leverage’

The organization warned that Israel may be using his detention, along with that of thousands of other Palestinians, “as political leverage” in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

“Such use of Palestinian prisoners and detainees as bargaining chips constitutes hostage-taking under international humanitarian law (IHL),” Al Mezan stressed.

Subject to Torture

Dr. Abu Safiya, it said, was to participate in the closed-door hearing via video from Ofer Prison, where he is currently detained.

He was initially held at Sde Teiman, a military detention camp “notorious for systematically torturing Palestinians,” until January 9, 2025 and then transferred to Ofer Prison on 11 February 2025.

The statement noted that on March 25, 2025, the Be’er Sheva District Court upheld and extended Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention for six months under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, without charge.

When Al Mezan’s lawyer was finally able to visit him in February 2025, after 47 days of being denied legal counsel, Dr. Abu Safiya “confirmed that he was subject to torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment.”

He recounted being forcibly stripped by Israeli authorities at Sde Teiman, made to sit on sharp gravel for hours, and severely beaten by Israeli soldiers with batons and electric prods, Al Mezan said.

At Ofer Prison, Dr. Abu Safiya spent 25 days in solitary confinement and was interrogated for 10 days straight.

Growing Calls for His Release

The rights group said that over the first two months of detention, his health declined significantly as he endured torture, starvation, and inhumane living conditions while also continuously being denied medical attention by Israel.

“Al Mezan firmly condemns the continued use of Unlawful Combatants Law by Israeli authorities to illegally detain Palestinians without charges or due process and considers it a gross violation of both IHRL (International Human Rights Law) and IHL (International Humanitarian Law),” the organization stressed.

There have been growing calls worldwide for his release, with Amnesty International describing his arrest and ongoing arbitrary detention as “a reflection of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the decimation of the healthcare system in Gaza in order to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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