Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat — The director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, has sustained a severe eye injury due to physical abuse in Israel’s infamous Sde Teiman prison, according to new reports from his lawyer Ghaid Qassem.
During an interview with Al Jazeera, Qassem declared that she had noticed clear marks of physical mistreatment, including chest injuries and several fractures, sustained over four interrogation sessions, which persisted for an average of 8-10 hours, with the longest taking a continuous 13 hours.
The lawyer stated that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) are relentlessly trying to get Abu Safiya to falsely confess to baseless accusations, such as belonging to a terrorist organisation and operating on Hamas fighters, despite him insisting that he’s a pediatric doctor and does not work in operation rooms.
Qassem stressed that the mental and physical health of Abu Safiyya are clearly deteriorating due to IOF’s physical torture and continuous mental pressure, as well as starving him and denying him of basic human rights.
His lawyer also declared that she has only been able to meet with him twice since he was abducted by the IOF in December 2024. The first visit took place on March 6 and lasted for 50 minutes, while the second was on March 19 and lasted for a mere 17 minutes.
Completely isolated from the outside world, Abu Safiya had no idea about the support that his story has gotten with millions around the world applauding his courage in the face of Israel’s belligerence.
“Abu Afiya was not aware that his case has received such widespread campaign in the Arab world and on an international level, they are completely isolated inside the prison, they don’t know anything about what’s going on outside or what’s happening in Gaza,” Qassem told Al Jazeera.
Read also:
Earlier in February, Israeli media aired video footage showing a handcuffed and leg-shackled Abu Safiya. This marked his first appearance since he was kidnapped at gunpoint from Kamal Adwan hospital, along with 30 other people of mostly medical staff and patients.
During the IOF raid of Kamal Adwan hospital, where they unleashed attack dogs on patients and crushed several people to death using bulldozers, Abu Safiya pledged to continue treating his patients “until the last moment.”
Human rights activists and organzations everywhere have been condemning Abu Safiya’s false detainment and calling for his immediate release. The fears over his treatment are well substantiated given Israel’s long record of abusing Palestinians.
In May 2024, head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa hospital Adnan al-Bursh died in Ofer Prison after being detained for four months. A former prisoner at the same facility later reported that al-Bursh died in the prison yard where he was dumped, naked from the waist down, bleeding and unable to stand.
These atrocities are evidence of Israel’s larger abuses against Palestinian prisoners. While they have long been a part of the IOF agenda, they are only now starting to make more headlines amid growing international pressure and awareness of the plight of Palestinians.
