A year after Israel detained him without charges or trial, Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, 52, is still incarcerated in an Israeli prison.
His family and supporters are pressing for his release as his health worsens as a result of rumors about the inhumane conditions in which he is being held.
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Abu Safia, who is renowned for running Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, has become a key player in international discussions about the protection of medical personnel in armed conflicts.
Despite ongoing Israeli attacks on the hospital, he insisted on staying along with several members of the medical staff.
Finally, Israel forced everyone to leave the hospital and eventually encircled it. Since then, Abu Safia has been detained and the hospital has been shut down.
He was repeatedly mistreated while being transferred between Israeli prisons, moving from the notorious Sde Teiman holding facility to Ofer Prison.
Abu Safia is being held in violation of the “unlawful combatant” law, which allows detention without a typical criminal trial and prevents detainees from accessing the evidence against them.
The suffering of a family
Abu Safia is being held in a cruel manner and has lost more than a third of his weight, according to lawyers.
He also has heart problems, irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure, skin infections, and lacks specialized medical care, which worries his family.
His eldest son, Ilyas, 27, explained to Al Jazeera via Zoom that his father’s only “crime” was being a doctor, adding that his family had fled from Kazakhstan a month ago.
Despite having the opportunity to leave Gaza, especially considering Albina is a Kazakh citizen, Ilyas, his mother Albina, and four siblings remained with his father at Kamal Adwan despite the Israeli attacks.
Ibrahim, the 20-year-old Ilyas’ brother, was killed by Israel on October 26, 2024 while the hospital was shelled.
Ilyas claimed that “the entire medical staff cried in grief for]my father] and Ibrahim.
Dr. Abu Safia’s consumption
The hospital woke up to an Israeli-imposed tightening siege on dawn on December 27, 2024, using quadcopter drones and tanks.
Israeli tanks had been stationed in Kamal Adwan since mid-October 2024, gradually advancing closer, destroying infrastructure like water tanks, until that day, when they were so close that no one could leave.
According to Dr. Walid al-Badi, 29, who remained with Abu Safia until his arrest, and spoke to Al Jazeera at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on December 25 in the emergency reception corridor.
“Dr. Abu Safia asked us to remain calm, but the situation was extremely tense, loudspeakers were urging everyone to leave.” Then the loudspeakers demanded that Dr. Abu Safia enter the tank.
Abu Safia was given the order to enter an armored vehicle. The doctor returned with a sheet of instructions, dishevelled, dusty clothes, and a bruise under his chin, according to al-Badi.
He was informed that he had been assaulted by everyone who rushed to his aid.
According to al-Badi, “Israeli media showed a video where they claimed they treated him with respect, but they didn’t disclose how he was threatened and assaulted in the tank.”
The Israelis instructed Abu Safia to compile a list of all hospital employees, which he did and returned to the armored vehicle where he was told that only 20 of the staff could remain. The rest had to depart.
The Israelis allowed some ambulances to travel to the Indonesian Hospital [about 1 km away], while the medical teams then set off on foot, according to al-Badi, who accounts for the incident around 10 am.
However, the doctors and several patients remained besieged.
I told the doctor to leave, but I promised to stay until the doctor was done.
Dr. Mai Barhouma, the head of the intensive care unit, who spoke to Al Jazeera from the Baptist Hospital, was the only female physician still serving.
Despite being asked to do so by Abu Safia, Barhouma’s conscience prevented her from leaving because she had been working with critical patients who needed medical care and oxygen.
Drs. Barhouma and al-Badi claim that the Israeli army has repeatedly offered him a safe place to leave alone after repeatedly calling Abu Safia for new instructions.
He resisted and vowed to remain on his staff. Around 10 p.m., the quadcopters commanded everyone to line up and leave.
Israel shut off the electricity during this period by shelling and setting fire to the upper floors.
As Dr. Abu Safia led us out, al-Badi said, “We were heartbroken.” As Dr. Abu Safia left the hospital, he was crying and made an incredible effort to stay in.
According to those who spoke on the day, Israeli soldiers allegedly tortured and beat medical staff at al-Fakhoura School in Jabalia during interrogations.
Barhouma and an ICU patient travelled in an ambulance, but the school held the ambulance for hours.
The soldiers forced us to walk 2 km away from the hospital and bound our hands. Our morning departure colleagues were still being tortured, al-Badi said, adding that they arrived at midnight.
They told us to “strip down” our underwear, tied our hands, and began verbally and physically abusing us with rifle butts and boots.”
While Barhouma was in the ambulance with the critically ill patient, the doctors were interrogated and beat each other for hours while the cold kept coming.
“I started using a manual resuscitation pump because the oxygen ran out.” She said, “I was terrified that the patient would die because my hands swelled from pumping nonstop.”
She described hearing the male medics’ screams being tortured before being ordered by Israeli soldiers to leave the ambulance.
The soldier demanded my ID, had an eye exam, and then told me to leave. I refused, telling him that he had a critical patient who needed to be killed if I left them.
The Israelis eventually ordered the doctors to travel to western Gaza, including the ambulance carrying Barhouma, and took them on an alternative route westward.
However, there was no end to the relief. When an Israeli officer called to Abu Safia, they were only able to walk a short distance.
Our faces froze, al-Badi claimed. The doctor inquired as to what was wrong. We want you with us in Israel, the officers declared.
Al-Badi and a nurse tried to pull the doctor away, but he rebuked them and instructed them to continue walking.
As I watched the doctor being detained and wearing the white nylon detainees uniform, I was sobbing like a child was being separated from his father.
calls for his release
Abu Safia’s family is pressing for his immediate release through human rights and courts.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts with the prison administration, my father’s lawyers visited him seven times over the course of the past year. [Each visit was permitted] My father’s condition has significantly deteriorated over time, Ilyas reported to Al Jazeera.
Before his arrest, he had injuries while he was in the hospital, and he has shrapnel in his foot. Additionally, he experiences severe psychological and physical abuse that is inappropriate for his generation. He also has other health issues.
In an area that Israel itself considered a “red zone” at the time, Israel is trying to criminalize my father’s work, his continued service to people, and his efforts to save the wounded and the sick.
The Israeli army’s plan to evict the north of its residents was a major challenge due to my father’s presence and steadfastness inside the hospital.
Ilyas is proud of his father.
“My father is a doctor who will serve as a shining example of medical ethics and bravery,” my father said.
I’m “proud beyond words,” and I’m hoping to see him leave prison in peace and safety.
