An Israeli human rights organization, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI), has filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding the immediate release of 14 doctors from Gaza who have been held without charge for over a year. The group stated on Thursday that the petition was submitted after Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir failed to respond to its request for their release.
The detained doctors include pediatricians, orthopedic specialists, and surgeons. PHRI emphasized that their continued detention is hindering efforts to rehabilitate Gaza's healthcare system and called on international actors to show solidarity in pushing for their release.
Among those in Israeli custody is Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was detained in December 2024 when Israeli forces stormed the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza. He has been held without charge for nearly 18 months.
His brother, Muafaq Abu Safia, told Reuters that their lawyer informed them Hussam Abu Safia had lost 40 kg (88 lb) in prison, suffered four fractured ribs, and other ailments. "All the crimes inflicted on him by the occupation [Israel] were just because he refused to leave the hospital and patients," Muafaq said.
United Nations experts have warned that Safia has been subjected to "severe torture," while Amnesty International said his detention forms part of a broader pattern by Israel aimed at dismantling Gaza's healthcare system and creating conditions that make it impossible for Palestinian society to exist.
Numerous aid groups have warned that Gaza faces a critical shortage of medical supplies due to Israeli restrictions. Victoria Rose, a plastic surgeon who made several trips to Gaza between March 2024 and June 2025, told Al Jazeera the conditions she encountered were "unimaginable."
"During the height of the war, conditions were incomparable to what they had been before. The worst period was in May and June 2025. There was a complete blockade of fuel, water, and food. We had no supplies at all. We had only two types of antibiotics. It was unimaginable, and patients were arriving in overwhelming numbers," she said.
Israel has denied deliberately targeting medical workers in Gaza and has accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes, but has provided no credible evidence to support those claims.
Source: www.aljazeera.com