They brought me here to kill me... This is the end': Dr. Hussam Abu Safia fears he will not survive Israeli detention
Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is in immediate danger after his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, found him bearing severe injuries during a visit to the brutal, underground Rakefet interrogation facility inside Nitzan Prison.
Odeh said the Palestinian physician was so badly beaten that he initially struggled to recognize him. Shackled hand and foot and escorted by masked guards, Dr. Abu Safia struggled to breathe and speak, could not sit upright, and repeatedly appeared close to losing consciousness.
According to Dr. Abu Safia, four or five guards entered his solitary cell at Ganot Prison after his Supreme Court appeal was heard on 10 June and beat him with a hammer and batons. Since his transfer to Rakefet on 24 June, he said he has been beaten daily, has lost consciousness several times, and has received no medical treatment.
"This is the last time you will see me. They brought me here to kill me. I don't see myself surviving. This is the end."
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said the escalation in torture began after Dr. Abu Safia challenged his detention in court. The organization has appealed to Israel's attorney general and prison service, demanding his immediate transfer, an independent medical examination, and an urgent judicial visit "before it is too late."
Israeli occupation forces abducted Dr. Abu Safia from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on 27 December 2024, after he refused to abandon one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during Israel's assault.
He has remained imprisoned without charge under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law. Earlier visits had already documented severe weight loss from starvation and visible bruising, but his lawyer said his condition has now deteriorated dramatically.
The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said new information obtained through Dr. Hussam Abu Safia's lawyer, in cooperation with Physicians for Human Rights Israel, confirms that Israeli authorities are escalating efforts to kill the Kamal Adwan Hospital director inside prison through systematic torture, severe detention conditions, deliberate medical neglect, starvation, isolation, and physical and psychological abuse. It said his transfer to the Rakefet interrogation unit marks a dangerous escalation, describing Israeli prisons as instruments of slow killing, and called on the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the international human rights system to move beyond statements of concern and take urgent action to secure his immediate protection and release, along with all detained Palestinian medical personnel.
The organization said Dr. Abu Safia continues to be held arbitrarily without charge under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, despite ongoing legal efforts to secure his release, warning that this provides legal cover for his continued targeting and places his life at growing risk. It added that Israel continues to target Palestinian medical workers through killing, detention, torture, starvation, and denial of medical care, holding Israel fully responsible for the lives of Dr. Abu Safia, dozens of detained medical workers, and all Palestinian prisoners, while also blaming states providing Israel with political and military support.
According to the organization, around 9,400 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel, including 1,320 held under the Unlawful Combatants Law without charge or fair trial, while the fate of hundreds of detainees from Gaza remains concealed. It added that more than 100 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons and military camps since the start of the genocide, with the identities of 90 of them confirmed.
