Update from Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) -
*Gaza hospital director Abu Safiya reports continued beatings, threats in Israeli detention*
*Kamal Adwan Hospital director says prison guards continue to beat him, including on sensitive areas of his body, deliberately deprive him of sleep and warned him not to disclose his detention conditions to his lawyer. The Israel Prison Service continues to delay access for an independent physician despite his recent transfer to a prison medical facility.*
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, has been held by Israel without charge or trial since December 2024. During a legal visit on Sunday, 30 August 2026, he told his lawyer that violence against him by prison guards was continuing. According to an affidavit by his lawyer, Abu Safiya said that in recent weeks guards had beaten him on various parts of his body, including sensitive areas, using their hands, boots and batons. He also said guards deliberately deprive him of sleep by making noise and using the prison’s public-address system during the night. According to Abu Safiya, following a previous visit by his lawyer, he was assaulted and warned not to share information about the conditions of his detention.
The new testimony comes as Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) pursues legal action seeking access for an independent physician to examine Abu Safiya. A request to allow Dr Amit Tirosh, a specialist in internal medicine, to examine him was submitted to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) on 7 July. After the request was not approved, Dr Abu Safiya, through PHRI, petitioned the Administrative Court. The IPS has since requested a further extension to submit its response to the petition. PHRI maintains that there is no justification for delay and that an independent examination should be allowed without delay.
The need for an independent examination has become all the more pressing in light of Abu Safiya’s medical condition. According to an update he provided, on 10 August he was transferred from the underground “Rakefet” detention facility, where he had been held in isolation, to the IPS medical facility at Ramla Prison (Marash). He remained there for approximately a week and underwent several examinations that identified a number of medical problems. In its submission to the court, PHRI stressed that his exceptional transfer to the IPS medical facility itself indicates significant medical needs that cannot be adequately addressed in ordinary prison wings — precisely the circumstances in which an independent second medical opinion is warranted.
The latest testimony adds to previous accounts from Abu Safiya of severe violence throughout his detention. During earlier legal visits, he was reported to have suffered injuries to his head, face and other parts of his body, and said the violence continued even after his lawyer demanded that he receive an urgent medical examination. Official IPS medical records provided to PHRI documented an injury to his left eye and recorded complaints he made to medical staff about injuries to his head and chest.
*Physicians for Human Rights Israel said*: “Dr Abu Safiya’s latest testimony confirms that the pattern of deliberate abuse against him is continuing. He describes ongoing violence, sleep deprivation and threats aimed at preventing him from reporting the conditions of his detention to his lawyer. At the same time, his medical condition requires further assessment and treatment, yet the IPS continues to delay access for an independent physician. The repeated testimonies and mounting evidence of harm to Dr Abu Safiya only heighten the urgency of allowing an immediate independent medical examination.”
Meanwhile, there has been a further development in PHRI’s separate petition to the Israeli Supreme Court seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza, including Dr Abu Safiya, who are being held by Israel without charge or trial. The Supreme Court ordered the state to clarify by 13 September whether the Chief of Staff, or someone legally authorised by him to do so, specifically considered the request to release the 14 doctors, exercising the discretion granted under the law and taking into account their status as doctors. If so, the state must clarify who exercised that discretion. --- For further information: Ran Yaron, PHRI Spokesperson, +972-54-668-0857
