JERUSALEM— An Israeli rights group said Wednesday that it has petitioned an administrative court to compel the Israel Prison Service to allow an independent physician to examine Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained without formal charges or trial since Israeli forces arrested him in 2024.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said in a statement that it filed the petition amid a deterioration in Abu Safiya’s health, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, renewed its call on members of Congress to demand Israel immediately release Dr. Safiya from detention after reports that the torture he endured at the hands of his Israeli captors left him with broken ribs.
The Israeli army arrested Abu Safiya on Dec. 27, 2024 during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, which he directed and which was one of the main medical facilities serving northern Gaza.
His arrest came after Israeli forces forced patients and medical staff to evacuate the hospital and destroyed it during Israel’s genocide in the enclave.
Dr Safiya suffered fractured ribs after violent assaults by Israeli prison authorities inside Rakevet prison, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the office said Abu Safiya endured severe abuse that left him with multiple injuries, including fractures to his rib cage. It added that July 27 marked “the most difficult day” since his detention, saying he was subjected to “brutal torture” inside the prison.
“Dr. Abu Safiya has been in Israeli captivity since December 2024. In that time, he has been subjected to repeated acts of torture causing serious injuries. Dr. Abu Safiya’s only crime was treating the thousands of Palestinians maimed by Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. We call on all members of Congress to demand his immediate release from captivity and hold the Israeli government accountable for its treatment of him,” CAIR said in its statement on Wednesday.
PHRI said the official medical file it obtained from the Israel Prison Service documents an injury to Abu Safiya’s left eye as well as complaints he made to prison medical staff about head injuries and chest trauma that left him with persistent rib pain.
The group said Abu Safiya was referred for a chest X-ray after reporting the injury, but the results were not included in the medical file it received.
The petition follows the prison service’s rejection on July 5 of PHRI’s request to allow an independent physician to visit Abu Safiya.
It also comes after the group published reports last month saying that Abu Safiya had been subjected to serious physical abuse while in custody and after the prison service provided the organization with his official medical records.
According to PHRI, Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, reported after visiting him last month that he had sustained injuries to his head, face, ears and neck, in addition to suffering breathing difficulties and being unable to sit without collapsing.
Abu Safiya later told his lawyer that he had again been beaten by prison service personnel, the organization said.
PHRI is requesting that an independent physician be allowed to examine Abu Safiya in the underground “Rakevet” wing of Nitzan Prison in Ramla, or at any other facility where he is being held.
The organization urged the court to hold an urgent hearing and order prison authorities to permit the examination without delay, saying an independent medical assessment is the only way to evaluate Abu Safiya’s condition in a professional and impartial manner.
The petition comes alongside separate proceedings before Israel’s Supreme Court in which PHRI is seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza, including Abu Safiya, who the group says are being held without charge or trial.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights said that on Feb. 12, 2025, the then-head of the Israeli military’s Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, had ordered Abu Safiya’s detention under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law.
Israel continues to hold Abu Safiya despite his repeated denial that he engaged in any activity outside his medical duties amid calls by Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups for his immediate release.
Rights organizations say Abu Safiya’s health has deteriorated in detention. He suffers from chronic heart disease and high blood pressure and has been denied adequate medical care.
Previous legal visits and rights reports said he contracted scabies because of poor detention conditions and lost around 25 kilograms (55 pounds) due to inadequate food and medical neglect.
About 9,500 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including women and children, under conditions involving starvation, torture and medical neglect that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of detainees, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups.
Source: Saudi Gazette