After weeks of silence from Israel over the campaign calling for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza who has been held in Israeli custody for a year and a half, Israel’s mission to UN institutions in Geneva issued an official response Friday evening, stating that “Hussam Abu Safiya is a Colonel in Hamas; At no stage of his detention has he exhibited any indication of a life-threatening condition.”
In its statement, the mission emphasized that Abu Safiya “is lawfully detained by Israel based on concrete intelligence.”
During the war in Gaza, the mission said, Abu Safiya managed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and “operated it as one of Hamas' terror hubs.”
“Abu Safiya exploited his position at the hospital to divert humanitarian resources intended for civilian needs towards terrorist purposes,” the statement said. “He enabled Hamas terrorist activity against Israeli forces during IDF operations in Gaza, posing a direct threat to Israel's national security.”
The mission added that “his lawful detention is subject to regular administrative review and judicial oversight, including by Israel's Supreme Court, which recently considered his matter on June 10, 2026. No indications were found to support the claims raised regarding his condition.”
“As was stated before the Supreme Court, Abu Safiya was examined by medical personnel upon his arrival at Nitzan Detention Center on June 24, 2026, and several times thereafter. He remains under continuous medical supervision and receives treatment in accordance with the professional determination of medical personnel, exhibiting no indication of a life-threatening condition at any stage of his detention.”
In recent weeks, a campaign calling for his release has been promoted by leading international media outlets, which presented him as thin and exhausted. Previous reports included details and footage allegedly linking Abu Safiya to Hamas activity and showed a photo of him wearing Hamas clothing, though the image was published only by the New York Post in January.
Previous reports included details and footage allegedly linking Abu Safiya to Hamas activity and showed a photo of him wearing Hamas clothing
Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, has spoken with international media outlets. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, a Palestinian organization that advocates for prisoners held in Israeli prisons, claimed that information provided by the lawyer “indicates that the Israeli authorities are escalating their direct abuse of Abu Safiya through harsh detention conditions and systematic torture intended to physically and psychologically exhaust him.”
The organization also claimed that his transfer to Rakafet Prison, where October 7 massacre terrorists and Hezbollah operatives are held, was part of “an attempt to harm him.” Similar allegations have been echoed internationally, alongside claims that the wing where he was held at Nitzan Prison “has been linked to numerous testimonies of severe torture and starvation, representing an especially dangerous escalation.”
On Saturday, Arab media outlets also began reporting that Abu Safiya had been transferred to solitary confinement.
Abu Safiya was transfered to Rakafet Prison
Under the headline “Detained Gaza doctor almost unrecognisable after injuries in Israeli jail, lawyer says,” the British Guardian published an extensive report on the case this week. The article quoted Abu Safiya’s lawyer, who claimed that “life is in real danger" after being held for 18 months without charges or trial.”
The report also stated that “Abu Safiya met with his lawyer on July 2, after being transferred at the end of June to the underground Rakafet prison, which is notorious.” According to the lawyer, Abu Safiya “was exhausted and unable to breathe, in a difficult physical, psychological, and mental state.”
In a joint statement with Physicians for Human Rights Israel and other organizations calling for his release, he was quoted as allegedly saying: “They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end.”
The article also detailed other alleged cases in which Palestinians were harmed as a result of Israeli policies.