The detention of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, following a raid on Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has sparked widespread calls for his release and highlighted the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Strip.
Gaza’s government media office has called on the international community to determine the fate of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, as well as other medical teams detained by the Israeli army during a raid on the medical facility late last week.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the office said that “the occupation is endangering the lives of Abu Safiya and the medical teams after their detention.”
It added,
“We demand the international community, human rights and humanitarian organizations and the International Red Cross urgently intervene to uncover the fate of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and the medical teams in particular, ensure their immediate release without delay, and provide necessary protection for him and all detainees who are subjected to inhumane practices, especially medical and civil service teams.”
The last photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, detained after refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients.
In just one image, we see both the power of Palestinian humanity and the moral weakness of all those complicit in genocide.
End all arms sales to Israel, now. pic.twitter.com/zxDqgUt1S9
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 29, 2024
The office also highlighted Abu Safiya’s exceptional commitment to his duties, stating that he “exemplified remarkable dedication in performing his medical and humanitarian duties during the genocidal war in northern Gaza, despite harsh conditions.”
It emphasized that he, alongside his colleagues in the healthcare system, “shouldered the burden of defending patients’ right to treatment. He remained steadfast despite his own injuries and the loss of his son, Ibrahim, bearing witness to the sacrifices of his family.”
Additionally, the statement pointed to reports that Abu Safiya has been subjected to serious violations since his detention, including psychological and physical pressure.
“Reports about Abu Safiya being subjected to severe violations and psychological and physical pressure following his detention, including being forced to remove his medical attire and being used as a human shield, constitute a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and international conventions,” the office said.
The media office called for “immediate and serious action from all relevant parties, especially the international community and humanitarian, legal and human rights organizations worldwide.”
1/5 We are extremely concerned over the fate & wellbeing of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on 27 December. He must be released immediately and unconditionally. pic.twitter.com/nwqq95pLEc
— Amnesty MENA (@AmnestyMENA) December 29, 2024
WHO: Free Gaza Doctors
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), also called for Dr. Abu Safiya’s release in a post on his X platform on Monday.
“Hospitals in #Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern #Gaza is out of service — following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two days ago. His whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release,” he added.
The WHO secretary-general also highlighted the catastrophic conditions of all hospitals in Gaza.
“WHO and partners today delivered basic medical and hygiene supplies, food and water to Indonesian Hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital. Four patients were detained during the transfer. We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld,” he said.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!,” Ghebreyesus concluded.
Hospitals in #Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern #Gaza is out of service — following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 30, 2024
Dr. Abu Safiya’s Detention
On Friday, Israeli forces carried out a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, located in the northern town of Beit Lahia, burning significant portions of the facility and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee.
This follows a raid by the Israeli army early on Friday, in which the hospital was surrounded by tanks and fired upon with quadcopter-mounted machine guns before being set on fire.
Operating rooms, surgical departments and the laboratory were among the units destroyed as the blaze swept through the hospital, the Health Ministry said.
At approximately 7:15 a.m. local time, Israeli army officers used loudspeakers to order Dr. Abu Safiya, along with the injured, patients, and medical staff, to evacuate the hospital within 15 minutes, Quds News Network reported.
The Israeli military confirmed on Saturday that Dr. Abu Safiya was detained on suspicion of being “a Hamas terrorist operative” and alleged that the hospital was being used by Hamas as a “command and control center.” However, no evidence was provided to support these claims.
Following his arrest, Abu Safiya’s family issued appeals seeking information about his whereabouts.
According to CNN, former detainees of Sde Teiman, a military base in Israel’s Neqab desert near the Gaza border, Abu Safiya and other medics detained during the Kamal Adwan raid are being held there.
“Two Palestinian prisoners released this weekend from the facility said they saw Abu Safiya at the prison, and another former detainee said he heard Abu Safiya’s name being read out,” CNN reported.
Hospitals in #Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern #Gaza is out of service — following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 30, 2024
Ongoing Genocide
The ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. As the death toll among besieged and starved Palestinian civilians continues to rise daily, Israel is currently facing charges of genocide against Palestinians before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 45,484 Palestinians have been killed, and 108,090 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
The toll is expected to rise further, with at least 11,000 people still unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across Gaza.
The war, which Palestinians call “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” began after a military operation carried out by Hamas on Israeli territory. Israel reports that 1,200 of its soldiers and civilians were killed during the initial attack on October 7. However, Israeli media have raised concerns that a significant number of Israeli casualties were caused by ‘friendly fire’ during the assault.
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Human rights organizations, both Palestinian and international, have reported that the overwhelming majority of the casualties in Gaza are women and children. The ongoing violence has also exacerbated an acute famine, with thousands of children among the dead, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian disaster.
The war has displaced nearly two million people from their homes across Gaza, with the majority of the displaced forced into the already overcrowded southern region of the Strip. The population in Gaza remains trapped in the ongoing conflict, with little access to basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
I think one response to this calculated series of assaults on the Gaza medical sector would be to publish the names of all the IDF soldiers known to have participated in the attacks on these hospitals, together with the details of the charges the IDF made against the Gaza medical sector and the actual evidence. Along with these words: “In the Common Law, the ordinary person is trusted to sit in judgement on his fellow man or woman. These details are given, so that the ordinary man or woman may decide for themselves the truth of the accusation compared with the violence committed against the Gaza medical sector.”