Gaza: doctor held in prison without charge for years: Israel’s Supreme Court refuses to order his release
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is one of a group of Palestinian doctors – at least 14 in total – who have been detained in Israel without charge since 2024. He may continue to be detained under the Israeli law on illegal combatants, known as ‘administrative detention’.
The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for the release of a prominent Palestinian doctor who has been detained without charge since he was captured in Gaza at the end of 2024.
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is one of a group of doctors from Gaza – at least 14 in total – who have been detained in Israel without charge for over a year. He may continue to be detained under the Israeli law on illegal combatants, despite no criminal charges having been brought against him. This is reported by the Times of Israel, which states that the text of the decision and the grounds for it have not yet been made public.
The Court based its decision on “confidential materials” which were not shared with Abu Safiya or with his lawyer, Naji Abbas, director of the Detainees and Prisoners Department at the Israeli human rights organisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). When approached by Reuters, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to comment.
“The message sent by this decision is unequivocal: a healthcare professional can be deprived of their liberty indefinitely without being formally charged and without the authorities presenting evidence against them in court,” said the doctor’s lawyer.
Human rights groups claim that Abu Safiya, whilst in prison, was deprived of sufficient food and assaulted. The Israeli Prison Service has denied the allegations.
