The life of Palestinian pediatrician and hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safia is in imminent danger, according to his lawyer Nasser Odeh, who visited him on Thursday in an underground interrogation facility at Israel's Nitzan Prison.
Abu Safia first captured global attention on December 27, 2024, when footage showed him in a white doctor's coat walking through the rubble of northern Gaza towards an Israeli armored vehicle. He was forced to abandon the Kamal Adwan Hospital after an 85-day siege.
The Israeli regime claims Abu Safia is "affiliated with Hamas" and detains him under the Unlawful Combatants Law. No evidence has been presented to support these allegations, no criminal indictment has been filed, and no independent observer has been able to examine the intelligence purportedly justifying his detention.
On June 10, 2025, Abu Safia appeared in public for the first time after more than 500 days of brutal imprisonment, via videolink from Nafha Prison during an Israeli Supreme Court hearing. He was handcuffed and shackled, looking emaciated but maintaining a calm and dignified demeanor. Less than a month later, his lawyer visited him in Nitzan Prison and had trouble recognizing his client, who had been severely beaten and was losing consciousness during the meeting.
Abu Safia is one of hundreds of Palestinian medical workers detained by Israel. Fourteen doctors, including him, remain in Israeli detention camps and prisons. Two have not survived, and over 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed.
The Israeli regime arrests, tortures, and kills Palestinian doctors to prevent them from witnessing and documenting war crimes. A recently released UN report concluded there was clear evidence of "Israel's deliberate and direct targeting of Palestinian children" and the destruction of "the essence of childhood."
More than 24,000 children in Gaza have been killed, averaging one Palestinian child killed every hour for 1,000 days. One million Palestinian children remain under the brutal Israeli siege, homeless, food insecure, and without access to clean water.
The author argues that the root problem is the US-backed Israeli colonial occupation, the sadistic siege, structural violence, and apartheid. The international community must impose harsh formal sanctions and boycotts against Israel to stop the genocide and end the occupation, or be complicit.
Source: www.aljazeera.com