Gaza doctor held 23 months without charge faces life-threatening health decline

Prof Amit Tirosh, an independent Israeli specialist, reviewed a file obtained by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and flagged insufficient investigation of chest pain, delays in treating scabies and a fall in haemoglobin that warranted further examination. He said Abu Safiya weighed 90kg in January 2025 and 76kg this May. 'A 14kg weight loss is very alarming, even more so if the cause is unknown,' Tirosh told the Guardian. 'Continuous food deprivation and weight loss, repeated beatings and injuries, with inadequate medical care, can definitely cost Dr Abu Safiya his life.'

Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, was detained at work on 27 December 2024 and later held in solitary confinement at Rakefet, an underground prison. Nearly 700 days on, Israeli authorities have filed no formal charges. He was designated an 'unlawful combatant' along with more than 375 medical workers. Israel's supreme court rejected a petition for his release last month, and over the weekend a district court turned down a separate bid to allow an independent medical examination.

Tirosh pointed to a prison physician's note describing the weight loss over a year as 'a common trend among security prisoners associated to their diet'. He said the haemoglobin drop between February and July 2026 came long after the weight loss and coincided with reported beatings at Rakefet. 'Such blood loss can be life-threatening and requires urgent ER evaluation,' he said, adding that records showed bruising around one eye, dizziness and rib pain in July. PHRI records indicate more than 100 prisoners died in Israeli facilities between 2023 and 2025, he said. 'Refusing an independent examination is never justified.'

The district court ruling also revealed Israeli authorities' allegations that Abu Safiya exaggerated his medical problems, set up organisations from prison, influenced other prisoners and kept up international contacts. PHRI said those claims did not justify denying him an examination, a right it says is protected by law. An Israeli prison service spokesperson told the Guardian the allegations are 'part of a broader campaign aimed at discrediting the state of Israel', and that the service 'operates in accordance with the law and under constant judicial oversight'.

Before his detention, Abu Safiya had become the face of health workers trying to treat patients in Gaza. He helped keep Kamal Adwan running through more than 80 days of siege and attacks, and was wearing a white medical coat he had refused to wash since his son Ibrahim was killed by a drone strike at the hospital entrance that October. Naji Abbas of PHRI said 14 Palestinian doctors, including hospital directors and specialists, remain imprisoned without charge or trial. Abu Safiya's family have not been able to speak with him directly.