JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

An Israeli human rights organization on Thursday warned of a “serious deterioration” in the health of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been in Israeli custody since Dec. 27, 2024.

Physicians for Human Rights said one of its lawyers recently visited Abu Safiya at Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and documented the conditions of his detention.

According to the group, Abu Safiya has lost nearly 25 kilograms, suffers from scabies without receiving proper treatment, and faces a severe decline in his overall health. He has not appeared before a judge since March, has not been interrogated, and remains unaware of the charges against him.

The organization said the doctor is subjected to violence, ill-treatment and denial of medical checkups despite a history of heart disease and high blood pressure. His detention conditions reportedly include food shortages, lack of clean clothing, and repeated assaults by prison guards.

The group noted that more than 100 medical workers from Gaza have been detained since Israel’s war on the enclave began in October 2023, most without formal charges, calling the practice “a blatant violation of international law.”

Naji Abbas, who heads the group’s prisoners’ department, urged Israel to release Abu Safiya and other detained health workers immediately, calling their detention a “moral and legal crime.” He appealed to the international community to intervene.

In February, Israeli media aired video footage showing Abu Safiya in custody, shackled hand and foot and appearing visibly exhausted. Days earlier, Israeli authorities had placed him under “unlawful combatant” status, amid reports of torture, abuse and medical neglect.

At the end of March, an Israeli court extended his detention for six months, according to a statement by the Hamas-run Office for Prisoners’ Affairs.

Abu Safiya has also suffered personal losses during the war. His son Ibrahim was killed when Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital on Oct. 26, 2024. A month later, he himself was injured in an Israeli strike on the hospital but refused to leave and continued treating patients.

He was eventually taken into custody on Dec. 27, 2024, when Israeli troops stormed the facility, forced him out at gunpoint and destroyed the hospital, leaving it out of service.

The Israeli army has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.