Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, appeared via video link before the Israeli Supreme Court on 10 June 2026—visibly handcuffed inside a holding cell.

This marked his first public sighting in months. He appeared severely emaciated and exhausted, dressed in prison uniform.

In a clear violation of judicial transparency, journalists were barred from attending the hearing. Attendance was strictly limited to his defense counsel, Nasser Abu Ouda, before the court abruptly ordered the lawyer's exit under the pretext of reviewing "classified evidence" in a closed-door session between the prosecution and judges.

Advocate Abu Ouda clarified that Israeli authorities have failed to file formal charges against Dr. Abu Safiya, despite nearly a year and a half of arbitrary detention. Instead, authorities continue to rely on "secret files" to justify his prolonged internment under the highly controversial Unlawful Combatants Law.

Weaponizing the "Unlawful Combatants Law" to sustain indefinite detention fundamentally subverts the bedrock principles of due process, including:

• The right to be informed of specific charges;
• The right to an adequate legal defense;
• The right to a fair hearing before an independent and impartial judiciary.

Targeted Persecution of Healthcare Leadership

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya stands as one of the foremost witnesses to the collapse of Gaza’s northern healthcare system amid acts of genocide perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces. Despite opportunities to leave the besieged Strip, the Palestinian physician chose to remain inside the encircled hospital, continuing to provide medical care to patients and the wounded.

The personal toll of his commitment has been catastrophic:

• 26 October 2024: His son, Ibrahim, was killed in an Israeli bombardment targeting the hospital's vicinity. Dr. Abu Safiya himself was subsequently injured but refused to halt his medical duties.
• 27 December 2024: Israeli occupation forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcibly evacuated patients and medical teams, and detained Dr. Abu Safiya, transferring him through multiple detention centers without charge.

Human rights documentation confirms that Dr. Abu Safiya has been subjected to severe ill-treatment and physical assault while in custody. Forces raided his cell in Section 24 of Ofer Prison, inflicting brutal beatings that led to a critical deterioration of his health, compounded by his confinement in an underground cell. Legal counsel previously reported that Dr. Abu Safiya has lost approximately 40 kilograms since his arrest.

On 28 April 2026, an Israeli court extended his detention indefinitely, while the Beer Sheva Court rejected an interlocutory appeal for his immediate release, despite the total absence of a formal indictment.

Systemic Assault on the Right to Health and Life

The systematic targeting of medical personnel—both at their workplaces and within detention facilities—constitutes a grave breach of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This pattern of behavior reflects a deliberate policy to collapse the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip, directly contributing to acts of genocide by destroying the essential conditions required to sustain human life.

According to verified human rights metrics:

• 788 medical facilities have been targeted, leaving 25 hospitals completely or partially non-functional;
• 197 ambulances have been destroyed;
• At least 1,702 healthcare workers have been killed by occupation forces, and 362 detained, with 83 remaining in custody.

Israeli authorities continue to hold an estimated 9,600 Palestinian prisoners, including thousands under administrative detention. Data from the Palestinian Prisoners' Society indicates that prison administrations have classified roughly 1,251 detainees from Gaza as "unlawful combatants" to fabricate a legal veneer for the arbitrary detention of civilians, including prominent medical professionals.

Rights groups have documented the deaths of hundreds of detainees inside Israeli facilities due to torture and medical neglect. Among the dead are three distinguished physicians: Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, Dr. Iyad Al-Rantisi, and Dr. Ziad Al-Dalo—stark evidence of the lethal environment facing detained medical staff.

Humanitarian Catastrophe and Casualties

Data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reveals that since the provisional ceasefire on 10 October 2025, Israeli operations have claimed another 981 lives, with 782 bodies recovered from under the rubble during the same period.

Cumulatively, from 7 October 2023 to 10 June 2026, the documented death toll has reached 72,991 fatalities received by hospitals, with thousands more remaining missing under rubble or on gridlocked roads inaccessible to rescue teams.

The catastrophic destruction of health infrastructure, water networks, electrical grids, and sanitation systems has transformed the Gaza Strip into one of the most perilous humanitarian environments globally, triggering widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases across displacement camps.

Institutional Position

"The image of Dr. Abu Safiya—emaciated, handcuffed, and denied the fundamental right to know the charges against him—exposes the machinery of arbitrary detention operating behind a veil of classification. When a physician who refused to abandon his patients becomes a prisoner without charge, and when courts legitimize this through secret evidence, the boundary between law and institutionalized abuse has ceased to exist. The international community's silence is not neutrality; it is complicity."

Demands Aligned with International Human Rights Principles

Released by:

Women Journalists Without Chains,

Geneva, Switzerland —June 11, 2026