Israel Extends Detention of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

After being abducted by Israeli forces from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s imprisonment has been extended until mid-February, despite no charges being filed against him. Denied legal counsel until January 22, his situation has raised fears of torture, according to Al-Mezan Center, the human rights organization representing him.

Dr. Abu Safiya is one of over 300 health workers confirmed to be currently imprisoned by Israel. The physician has reportedly been transferred to Ofer prison from Sde Teiman camp, where fellow prisoners, including former patients, heard his accounts of humiliation and mistreatment following the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) raid on Kamal Adwan in December. Concerns for his well-being grow considering the experiences of other health workers recently released, such as nurse Khaled Yousef Saada from Al-Awda Hospital, who was detained alongside hospital director Dr. Ahmed Muhanna and colleagues in December 2023. Saada spent nine months in detention, while others, like orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mahmoud Abu Shahada, were imprisoned for nearly a year, exposed to abuse on a daily basis.

Global protests continue to demand the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and other detained health workers. Demonstrations have taken place in several European cities, while in the United States, dozens of members of Doctors Against Genocide and Codepink gathered in Washington, DC, to protest the medical genocide in Gaza and to renew calls for a full arms embargo on Israel.

The US and its Western allies, however, show no signs of honoring the year-long demand for ceasefire and arms embargo on Israel, voiced by solidarity groups and movements. Instead, they remain complicit in Israel’s obstructions of the delivery of vital medical supplies, fuel, and food to Gaza’s hospitals. Al-Awda Hospital, the last barely functioning facility in northern Gaza after the latest IOF sieges, has seen its fuel tank and generator destroyed, leaving it without electricity supply. To worsen the crisis, Israeli soldiers have ordered the displacement of those still at the hospital, ignoring life-threatening risks of relocating patients in the current conditions.

Fuel and electricity shortages are jeopardizing critical medical procedures across Gaza. At Nasser Hospital alone, over 100 C-sections are performed monthly, a task which will be impossible to do without power, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The hospital is also seeing a surge in pneumonia, respiratory infections, and asthma symptoms among children—conditions health workers are attributing to freezing temperatures and dire living conditions in tents, where families lack adequate food and warmth.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has once again criticized Israel’s slow pace in approving and facilitating medical evacuations, exacerbating the pressure on Gaza’s health infrastructure. Since occupation forces imposed the closure of the Rafah crossing, fewer than 500 patients have been evacuated, leaving over 12,000 waiting. At the current rate, the WHO said, it would take 5 to 10 years to evacuate everyone requiring urgent medical care.

As Israeli attacks on healthcare persist alongside obstructions to medical evacuations and aid delivery, Gaza’s death toll continues to rise. Official Ministry of Health figures estimate fatalities at around 46,000, but new analyses indicate this is an underestimate, given the destruction of central data collection capacities during Israeli attacks. Some of the most recent studies suggest that between October 2023 and June 2024, approximately 64,000 deaths were caused by traumatic injuries alone. Thousands more have died in the same period from untreated chronic diseases or conditions linked to dire living conditions, such as hunger.

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscriptions to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.