RAMALLAH, (PIC)
Nasser Odeh, the lawyer for the captive Palestinian doctor Hossam Abu Safiya, revealed the deterioration of his client’s conditions inside Israeli occupation prisons, confirming that he faces harsh detention conditions in light of his continued isolation and deprivation of basic needs and regular medical care.
Odeh said, in press statements on Sunday, that his recent visit to doctor Abu Safiya showed his suffering due to the difficult humanitarian and health conditions, as he spends most of his time handcuffed and shackled, and suffers from lack of food and the absence of clean drinking water, along with medical negligence.
He explained that Abu Safiya suffers from several chronic diseases that require regular medication and treatment, but he was deprived of them during the recent period, which increases fears about his health status.
The lawyer indicated that he visited the captive doctor in the Negev prison on 26 May, before the occupation authorities transferred him on 3 June to solitary confinement in Nafha prison.
He added that the interruption of communication and the absence of any updated information regarding his conditions since his transfer to isolation raise increasing concern, especially in light of his continuous need for essential medicines.
Odeh described the conditions of the recent visit as strict, as the meeting took place inside a camera-monitored room, while Abu Safiya was handcuffed and shackled, and communication between them was through the phone from behind a glass barrier and in the presence of guards on both sides of the place.
The lawyer quoted his client as complaining about the lack of clean drinking water, food shortages, and the continuation of what he described as deliberate medical negligence inside the detention center.
The transfer of Abu Safiya to solitary confinement came days after the defense panel submitted an appeal before the Israeli Supreme Court objecting to his continued detention, in a step that raised additional fears for his health status.
Since his arrest on 27 December 2024 following the storming of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, the name of doctor Hossam Abu Safiya emerged as one of the most prominent symbols of targeting Palestinian medical teams during the war, after he was arrested from inside the hospital he was managing and transferred to Israeli interrogation centers and prisons.
Testimonies from his family, human rights organizations, and testimonies of released captives indicate that he was subjected to a series of violations during his detention period, at a time when his health condition continues to deteriorate as a result of his suffering from chronic heart diseases and high blood pressure, and his deprivation of necessary medical care.