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On 27 December 2024, the Israeli military raided Kamal Adwan hospital and arbitrarily detained its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, along with other medical staff and patients. The raid put the hospital, the last functioning major medical facility in the North Gaza governorate, out of service. Sign the petition calling for his immediate release.

In October 2024, Israeli forces raided the hospital and detained medical staff and patients. On 12 December 2023, Israeli forces had raided the same hospital, also arresting staff and patients. While that raid put the hospital out of service, it was thanks to the efforts and dedication of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and his colleagues that the hospital managed to re-open and resume its work.

Its staff treated those wounded in attacks on starving people queuing for flour and aid, known by Palestinians as the “flour massacres” as well as those wounded in other strikes and shelling. The hospital also received and treated children and infants affected by severe malnutrition and dehydration. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya continued to bear witness and treat children despite the killing of his son in October 2024.

Like many health workers before him, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya was detained in the course of caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties. On 9 January, the Israeli Magistrate's Court in Ashkelon extended his detention without charge, under the Unlawful Combatants Law, until 13 February; and they extended the ban on Dr Hussam Abu Safiya meeting a lawyer until 22 January. 

They continue to refuse to disclose his whereabouts. Palestinians recently released from Sde Teiman detention centre told the media that they saw Dr Hussam Abu Safiya in the detention centre. Attacks by Israeli forces have severely impacted health workers and medical facilities and crushed the healthcare system.

Sign the petition and demand that the Israeli authorities immediately release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, including healthcare workers who are protected under international law. 

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition
 
 

Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi 
Military Advocate General   
Israel Defence Forces 

Dear Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi,

I am writing to you to demand the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a paediatrician and the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the occupied Gaza Strip, who was arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024, along with other hospital staff and patients, following a deadly raid on the hospital, which put it out of service.  

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, has for months acted as one of the most prominent voices of Gaza’s decimated healthcare sector, providing comprehensive and reliable information about the healthcare situation in the North Gaza governorate, particularly since Israeli forces laid a near-total siege to the area since 6 October 2024. He continued to bear witness and treat children despite the killing of his son in October 2024. 

By arresting him arbitrarily, refusing to disclose his whereabouts and refusing to grant him access to legal counsel, Israeli forces committed serious violations of international law, including the crime of enforced disappearance. Therefore, I urge you to: 

  • Secure the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and all other Palestinians, including health workers, forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained by Israel.

  • Pending Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s release, I urge you to disclose his whereabouts and ensure his protection from all forms of torture and other ill-treatment, including coercion.  

  •  Also pending his release, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya must be granted access to legal counsel and adequate medical care while in detention. 

Sincerely,

[Your name]