ALBAWABA - The director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, has been taken into custody by Israeli troops, the Israeli military confirmed to ABC News. UN authorities have strongly criticized his detention, calling for his quick release and a stop to Israel's bombardment of Gaza's medical institutions.
The Israeli army claims that Abu Safiya was arrested on suspicion of engaging in "terrorist activities" and is now being questioned by the Shin Bet intelligence organization. Abu Safiya is being detained in the Sde Teyman prison camp, a military installation built during Israel's October 2023 war on Gaza, according to Israeli media site i24. Many inmates, including children and the elderly, are housed at the detention facility, which is situated in the Negev Desert close to Beersheba.
Human rights organizations and Al Jazeera have reported on alleged abuses at the Sde Teyman institution, including claims of harsh torture and brutal treatment of captives.
In a joint statement released Thursday, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights Francesca Albanese and UN rapporteur Tlaleng Mofokeng, who oversees the right to health, expressed serious concern about Abu Safiya's imprisonment. They stressed that assaults on medical facilities in Gaza are breaches of international humanitarian law and called on Israel to free him and other medical professionals who have been unlawfully arrested.
The UN specialists told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers had killed unarmed people, including a man holding a white flag, close to Kamal Adwan Hospital. They emphasized that since the start of the war, over 1,750 Palestinian medical professionals have been slain, and many more have been arrested.
Abu Safiya had suffered personal traumas throughout the prolonged violence, including losing a son and becoming wounded himself, the UN statement said. He nonetheless carried on providing medical treatment till his imprisonment.
Furthermore, according to Al Jazeera, Israeli soldiers occupied Kamal Adwan Hospital last week, burned it on fire, and took over 350 people—including Dr. Abu Safiya—into custody. In the midst of what the UN refers to as an unparalleled humanitarian situation in Gaza, the episode has heightened demands for international responsibility.
