Gaza hospital director loses one-third of his weight in Israeli detention: Report

ISTANBUL

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has lost more than one-third of his body weight in Israeli detention, his defense lawyer said on Tuesday.

“When Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was arrested, he weighed 97 kilos (almost 214 pounds). Now, I don't think he weighs more than 60 kilos (132 pounds),” Gheed Kassem told Haaretz following a prison visit.

Kassem said Abu Safiya was beaten by Israeli prison guards on June 24, the same day Israel’s conflict with Iran ended.

“He was injured in the chin and back and is in pain,” she said. “They also broke his glasses that I had managed to bring him on my previous visit.”

The defense lawyer said Abu Safiya is suffering from a heartbeat that has not been treated and lives in a cold, damp underground cell at Ofer Prison, without daylight.

In February, Israeli media aired video footage showing Abu Safiya in custody, handcuffed and visibly exhausted. The footage surfaced shortly after Israeli authorities classified him as an “illegal combatant”.

An Israeli court in late March extended his detention for six months, according to a statement from the Hamas-run Prisoners’ Media Office.

Abu Safiya has paid a personal toll during the Israeli war on Gaza. On Oct. 26, 2024, his son Ibrahim was killed during an Israeli military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital.

A month later, on Nov. 24, an Israeli airstrike injured Abu Safiya while he was inside the hospital.

On Dec. 27, Israeli forces raided the hospital again, destroyed the facility, and forcibly removed Abu Safiya at gunpoint.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 58,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and disease.

Last 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.