Gaza urges world action nearly a year since Israel's arrest of hospital director

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was arrested on Dec. 27, 2024, when Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, detaining him at gunpoint

The Gaza Health Ministry on Friday reminded the international community of the case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, as the first anniversary of his arrest by Israel approaches, urging action to disclose his fate and secure the release. Abu Safiya was arrested on Dec. 27, 2024, when Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, detaining him at gunpoint. In October, the Amnesty International, citing a lawyer who visited Abu Safiya and other detainees, said he had been subjected to abuse and other forms of ill-treatment. “We appeal to the countries of the world to secure the release of Abu Safiya, disclose his fate, and provide him with protection under international law,” the head of Gaza's Health Ministry, Munir Al-Bursh, said on Telegram. Al-Bursh stressed that a doctor should never be a target, and those who abduct doctors are in fact abducting the very spirit of justice. He added that Abu Safiya “was not detained for carrying a weapon or harming anyone, but because he practiced his humanitarian profession, carried his stethoscope and compassionate heart, and supported the lives of people when the world abandoned them.” Al-Bursh said Abu Safiya was well known in Gaza’s hospitals and operating rooms and stood by the wounded during the Israeli assault before being arrested, barred from seeing his family, and denied the opportunity to continue his medical role that helped save lives. Al-Bursh called for Israel to be held accountable for “the crimes of abducting doctors and paramedics and torturing them.” He urged international and human rights organizations to act to protect medical teams in the Gaza Strip and secure Abu Safiya’s release. Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite a ceasefire two months ago.