GENEVA

Amnesty International on Monday urged Israeli authorities to release the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, voicing "extreme" concern over his wellbeing.

"We at Amnesty are extremely concerned over the fate and wellbeing of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on 27 December," Secretary-General Agnes Callamard wrote on X.

"He must be released immediately and unconditionally," Callamard urged.

She noted that Safiya has been the voice of Gaza’s decimated health sector for months and he was "appealing for the protection of his hospital and working under inhumane conditions, including following the killing of his son."

On Friday, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, located in the northern town of Beit Lahia, burning large sections of the medical facility and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee. The raid, the latest in a series of attacks on healthcare facilities put Kamal Adwan, the last remaining major hospital in the area, out of service, according to the WHO.

"Since the beginning of its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial," Callamard said. "Health workers have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention."

She underlined that hospitals and health workers are "not targets."

"Israel must immediately release all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, including health workers."

The international community, especially Israel's allies "must act to bring an end to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," she concluded.

Israel has killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 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 war on the enclave.