UNHRC demands Israel immediately release abducted Gaza hospital director amid life-threatening condition
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has called upon Israeli authorities to immediately release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, rebuking his detention as “arbitrary.”
The intergovernmental body said in a statement on Monday that Israel’s detention of Dr. Abu Safiya contravenes multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in addition to another significant international human rights treaty.
The UNHRC also raised alarms about the possibility that the Tel Aviv regime is engaging in the broad and systematic use of arbitrary detention.
On Saturday, Physicians for Human Rights stated that Abu Safiya, who has been in Israeli detention since 2024, is under an imminent threat to his life.
The international human rights organization said its legal representative, Nasser Odeh, documented critical injuries, signs of physical abuse, respiratory complications, and repeated instances of losing consciousness during a visit to Abu Safiya at the Rakefet detention facility in Nitzan Prison on July 2.
Odeh said Abu Safiya was brought to the meeting in shackles on both his hands and feet, accompanied by masked prison guards.
He reportedly showed new injuries and significant bruising on his head, around his eyes, ears, and neck, with Odeh stating that his physical state had worsened to such an extent that he was hard to identify.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel reiterated its demand for the prompt release of Abu Safiya and other medical professionals, who are being detained without charges or trial.
Abu Safiya was detained by the Israeli army on December 27, 2024, following a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital that forced him out at gunpoint and rendered substantial sections of the facility non-operational.
On November 24, 2024, Abu Safiya sustained injuries from an Israeli strike targeting the hospital; however, he chose to remain and continued to provide care for patients, despite having lost his son in a prior Israeli raid on October 26 that year.
In February 2025, Israeli officials classified Abu Safiya as an “unlawful combatant” following reports of torture and medical neglect. The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office reported on June 3, 2026, that he had been moved to solitary confinement.
Despite a ceasefire that went into force on October 10, 2025, Israel has continued its military offensives, killing 1,072 Palestinians and injuring 3,463 others throughout the truce period, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Approximately 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been obliterated by Israel during the genocidal war against the coastal region, with the United Nations estimating that the costs for reconstruction will be around $70 billion.
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