Ascending from my madness

“They brought me here to kill me.”

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a prominent doctor who was abducted from Gaza and tortured in Israeli custody has told his lawyer over the weekend that he believes Israeli authorities are about to kill him.

According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), Dr Abu Safiya was brought to a prison meeting in hand and leg restraints and accompanied by masked guards.

The organisation said his lawyer observed fresh injuries to his head, face, ears and neck, and reported that he struggled to breathe and speak, appeared severely weakened, and repeatedly seemed close to losing consciousness.

The Palestinian paediatrician has been held by Israeli authorities without charge for more than 555 days after being detained during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza in December 2024, where he has suffered medical neglect, regular beatings, deprivation of food and water, and had his limbs shackled during detention.

He has been held in solitary confinement since 3 June.

PHRI said his lawyer concluded following the visit that his life is in immediate danger.

His son, Elias Abu Safiya, has called for urgent international intervention, warning that his father’s condition is critical and appealing for his release “before it’s too late”.