Merve Aydogan
06 January 2025•Update: 06 January 2025
HAMILTON, Canada
A group of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered in Toronto, Canada on Sunday to demand the release of the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who was detained by Israeli forces last month.
The demonstration, which took place at Queen's Park outside the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, also protested Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
The protesters carried banners that said "Health for Gaza, stop the genocide" and "Healthcare is not a crime.”
They also demanded an arms embargo and the severing of diplomatic relations with Israel.
The UN special rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, also attended the demonstration via video call, saying Abu Safiya's refusal to evacuate the hospital has made him a symbol of resistance against Israeli forces.
"We don't know exactly where he stays, where he is, what is his health, but we have reasonable grounds to believe that as previous doctors and previous Palestinians who have been abducted, captured by Israel in Gaza, (he) might be severely mistreated, because this is what Israel does to the Palestinians," she said.
Albanese also called for global medical professionals to act against the violence and mistreatment inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.
Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on Dec. 27.
In late December, Amnesty International urged Israeli authorities to release him, expressing "extreme" concern over his wellbeing.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,800 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on the enclave.
