Kamal Adwan Hospital’s Dr Hussam Abu Safia is being held at the Sde Teiman torture camp and is said to be under investigation for ‘Hamas ties’
Han 3, 2024
Human rights organizations have raised concern over the fate of the director of north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safia after the Israeli army denied his recent detainment despite video and photo evidence, reports in Hebrew media, and testimonies of released prisoners.
“Despite clear evidence of Dr Abu Safia’s arrest, the occupation is now denying its previous statements and rejecting the existence of evidence, including videos and photos it had previously published, as well as the testimonies of some detainees who were released,” the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) said in a statement on 3 January.
The risks of his detainment are growing, the statement says, adding that he is but one of thousands who are “enduring the crime of enforced disappearance.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) urged the Israeli military to permit a lawyer to visit Abu Safia in detention. The Israeli army responded by saying that no evidence exists to confirm the hospital director’s detainment.
Abu Safia was detained on 27 December in the latest of many violent Israeli army raids on north Gaza’s besieged and destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Israeli media has published footage of Dr Abu Safia walking alone through the rubble surrounding the hospital toward an Israeli tank before his abduction.
Footage has emerged showing Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s arrest by Israeli forces at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital.
On Friday, Israeli forces stormed the hospital, forcibly evacuating patients and medical staff and arresting over 240 people, including the hospital’s director,… pic.twitter.com/fd9egquEkR
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 29, 2024
Recently released Palestinian prisoners who spoke to CNN late last month said Abu Safia is being held at the notorious Sde Teiman military base and detention center in the Negev desert – where detainees have been raped and tortured by Israeli forces.
Israel’s i24 news channel reported on Friday that Abu Safia is currently at Sde Teiman, and will soon face a hearing to determine the potential extension of his detention.
“Dr Hussam Abu Safia is under investigation by the Shin Bet on suspicion of having ties to Hamas,” the Israeli outlet said.
Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on 27 December, evacuating people at gunpoint and setting the facility ablaze after brutal attacks on the hospital’s vicinity – killing at least 50 people in under 24 hours.
The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza has also been destroyed for the most part and surrounded by Israeli troops.
This comes as part of the unofficial implementation of the Generals’ Plan, which seeks to make northern Gaza uninhabitable through mass destruction, killing, and expulsion. Israel’s goal is to completely empty out north Gaza and transform the area into an isolated military zone.
Israel’s war against the health sector in northern Gaza, which is part of the same plan, aims to make the area unlivable. Scores of doctors and medical workers have been killed.
Abu Safia himself recently survived an injury sustained from one of the continuous Israeli attacks on his hospital, which have included airstrikes, artillery shelling, and the detonation of robotic-explosive devices.
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