One of Gaza’s most renowned doctors, Hussam Aby Safiya, is set to appear in court on Wednesday, after being held by Israel for over 17 months without charge or trial, as his son warns he could die in custody.
The Israeli Supreme Court will hear the 53-year-old’s appeal against his detention extension ordered in April, with Abu Safiya scheduled to participate in the proceedings via video link from his prison cell.
Attorney Nasser Odeh, who represented Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya at the hearing, said the judge had indicated how the court is likely to uphold the order extending his detention.
The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, was detained by Israeli forces on 27 December 2024 after being classified as an "unlawful combatant" along with other Palestinian doctors - despite Israeli authorities providing no evidence to support this claim.
He became internationally known for refusing to abandon patients in the hospital despite working under strenuous conditions under heavy Israeli bombardment and a lack of equipment.
The hearing on Wednesday comes just days after reports said that Abu Safiya had been placed in solitary confinement, with rights groups raising the alarm and stating he should be protected under international law.
Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), said Israel has previously violated international law and has a long record of unfair legal proceedings, further fuelling concerns.
"Appealing to Israeli courts is one of the tools that human rights groups and lawyers use to demand provide basic rights for Palestinian detainees, so we hope that this hearing will lead to something positive despite that we don't have much trust in the legal system, especially after one year and half of unlawful detention," Abbas told The New Arab. He stressed that all healthcare workers are protected under international law, particularly in cases like Abu Safiya’s, where no charges have been brought, making his detention and alleged abuse all the more concerning.
"The case of Dr. Hussam is the known one, but it represents a wider policy of targeting healthcare workers during the last two years, which aimed to destroy the health system in Gaza. Dr. Hussam isn't the only healthcare worker held unlawfully in Israeli detention, but other 14 doctors also and dozens of nurses and paramedics," Abbas explained.
He went on to call on the international community and health organisations around the world to stand in solidarity with Aby Safiya and pressure Israeli authorities to release him. ‘Our greatest fear is that we will lose him’ Elias, Abu Safiya’s son, told The New Arab on Wednesday that the solitary confinement of his father will have "severe psychological and physical impacts, especially for someone who is ill and exhausted".
"Instead of seeing an improvement in his detention conditions or progress toward justice, we were shocked to learn that he had been transferred to solitary confinement. It felt as though demanding his basic rights was met with even harsher measures," Elias said, adding that his father faces extremely harsh conditions in prison.
Attorney Odeh said on Wednesday that Abu Safiya had not received any medical treatment, continuing to suffer from back pain and experiencing vision complications.
According to PHRI, Abu Safiya was moved from Ketziot prison to Ramon prison, part of Israel's Ganot prison complex.
The organisation said information gathered during a prison visit on 4 June indicated that Abu Safiya was being held alone in a small cell, where he was unable to move or sit properly due to its cramped conditions.
The transfer was also witnessed by fellow Palestinian doctors held in Israeli detention last week.
During a visit to Ketziot prison, four detained doctors told PHRI lawyers that they had seen security personnel single out Abu Safiya, handcuff him, and remove him from the facility days earlier.
"Our greatest fear is that we will lose him while he is alone behind bars. We fear that his physical or mental condition may deteriorate without anyone there to help him. We fear that time will pass and it will be too late. We are not asking for special privileges - we are simply asking that he remain alive and be treated with humanity," Elias said.
He explained that his father’s health was "keeping us awake day and night," and that there were no real guarantees that his father was receiving proper medical care.
He called on people and international organisations to demand his father’s release and shed light on his incarceration.
"About two months ago, my father spoke with me and asked me to carry his voice to the world. He asked me to reach out to the late Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif and ask him to remind people of our case, believing that he was still alive," Elias said.
"That moment never leaves me; a man so isolated from the world that he does not even know what has happened beyond his prison walls," he continued.
Elias further described his father as a source of support, who made others feel safe, and was determined to help others.
"Today, what I miss most is his voice," he said. "I miss hearing him say, 'Don't worry, everything will be alright'".