Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 11) rejected an appeal by Palestinian physician Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, who is being held under the Unlawful Combatants Law without formal criminal charges. Dr. Abu Safia, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, remains in solitary confinement under harsh conditions at Nafha prison and continues to be denied necessary medical care, according to his lawyer Nasser Odeh.
Dr. Abu Safia had requested immediate release via a video link last week after more than a year in custody. Footage showed him visibly thinner, and his family reported signs of torture.
He has been held without charges for more than 500 days, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). The doctor was seized by Israeli forces in late 2024 and has been detained ever since. He refused an Israeli evacuation order from the hospital where he worked and stayed to treat patients.
The Palestinian Prisoners Advocacy Center condemned the decision to 'approve his continued detention under the so-called Unlawful Combatants Law without any charge against him or filing of an indictment.' In a statement on Tuesday, the center said it 'holds the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the life and safety of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya' and called for his immediate release, provision of urgent medical care, and an end to the policy of arbitrary detention of medical and humanitarian personnel.
The center also 'calls on international human rights organizations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and the UN Special Rapporteurs, to urgently intervene and pressure the Israeli authorities to end this illegal detention.'
Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at PHRI, said the continued detention of Abu Safia is 'a profound moral and legal failure.' He stated: 'Instead of adhering to the basic principles of the rule of law and due process, the court has sanctioned the indefinite detention of a hospital director who remains in solitary confinement while suffering from untreated medical conditions.'
Before his detention, Dr. Abu Safia became known for video appeals begging the world to stop Israeli attacks on medical facilities. He once led the funeral procession for his son Ibrahim, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike at the hospital gate.
