Fears develop for Gaza hospital chief who walked towards Israeli tanks earlier than arrest

Surrounded by bomb-struck buildings, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya walked down the center of a street strewn with particles, his white medical coat standing out towards the rubble as he made his manner towards Israeli tanks.

The footage, taken in late December and verified by NBC Information, is the final time the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza was seen earlier than he was taken into custody by Israeli troopers laying siege to the advanced.

Earlier than his detention, Abu Safiya, 51, who turned the pinnacle of Kamal Adwan in 2024, was the lead doctor in Gaza for MedGlobal, a Chicago-based nonprofit that has partnered with native well being care staff since 2018 and arranges volunteer medical missions to the enclave.

The group’s co-founder, Dr. John Kahler, informed NBC Information in a telephone interview on Thursday that he was “very afraid” that Abu Safiya gained’t “make it out alive” from detention. He added that the doctor was “a pal of mine, a hero, mentor,” who, amongst different issues, had helped to determine vitamin stabilization facilities within the Gaza Strip.

On visits to Gaza, Kahler stated, he had by no means seen any indication that Abu Safiya was linked with the Hamas militant group that has run the enclave since 2007, or any suggestion that it was working contained in the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

5 different members of MedGlobal’s workforce have additionally been detained, and on Monday, the group known as for the discharge of scores of well being staff detained by Israel, together with Abu Safiya.

“Israeli authorities have repeatedly and blatantly violated worldwide humanitarian legislation in repeated detentions of and assaults on well being care staff,” it stated in a joint letter revealed on Monday alongside a number of different organizations, together with Human Rights Watch.

Their name for the “instant, unconditional launch” of detained well being staff got here as concern is rising for the well being of Abu Safiya, who has been detained for greater than six months with out cost, based on his colleagues, household and authorized workforce.

Abu Safiya’s son Elias Abu Safiya stated in a WhatsApp message that he was involved for his father’s bodily and psychological well being, which he stated authorized advocates had informed him have been in a “troublesome” state, though he added they’d not been in a position to go to him for a while.

After initially denying he was in custody, the Israeli army stated in a January assertion that Abu Safiya had been concerned “in terrorist actions” and held “a rank” in Hamas that it stated had made the Kamal Adwan Hospital a stronghold through the conflict.

However based on the Al Mezan Heart for Human Rights, a nongovernmental group that advocates for the folks of Gaza and has been offering authorized help to Abu Safiya, no formal fees had been made towards the hospital director as of Thursday.

Requested for an replace on Abu Safiya’s case on Friday, the Israeli army didn’t instantly reply.

However a spokesperson for the Al Mezan Heart for Human Rights stated Thursday that he was nonetheless being detained in Ofer Jail within the occupied West Financial institution, the place he confronted dire circumstances, insufficient meals and overcrowded cells.

In an announcement to NBC Information on Friday, the Israeli Protection Forces stated it acts in accordance with each the nation’s “and worldwide legislation, and protects the rights of people held in detention services below its duty.” It added that “any abuse of detainees, whether or not throughout their detention or throughout interrogation, violates the legislation and the directives of the IDF and as such is strictly prohibited.”

Abu Safiya’s household and colleagues have staunchly denied the allegations towards him, whereas United Nations officers and rights teams have additionally questioned the accusations and known as on Israel authorities to launch him.

Calling the accusations “ridiculous,” Kahler stated his colleague was a “heroic doctor” whose “ethical compass is instantly pointing due North.”

Whereas he stays behind bars, Israeli forces have continued their assault on Gaza’s well being care system, which has led to the destruction of or harm to hospitals within the enclave, based on World Well being Group information.

Israel launched its offensive following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assaults through which some 1,200 folks have been killed and round 250 taken hostage, based on Israeli officers, marking a significant escalation in a decadeslong battle.

Since then, greater than 56,000 folks have been killed in Gaza, with 1000’s extra severely injured, based on Palestinian well being officers within the enclave.

Hundreds of Palestinians are held by Israel below a controversial follow often called “administrative detention,” which Israeli authorities use to carry folks with out trial or different regular authorized proceedings, usually based mostly on alleged secret proof they don’t share with detainees, their households or authorized representatives.

The follow has been roundly criticized by human rights teams that say it’s used to carry Palestinians indefinitely with out cost and due course of, whereas Israel has defended the follow as a needed safety measure.

Of their letter on Monday, MedGlobal and the opposite organizations stated that as of February 2025, no less than 185 well being care staff from Gaza and the West Financial institution remained in Israeli custody. Their circumstances have been “unknown,” it added.

“Lots of these launched have reported extreme abuse, whereas some have died in custody,” it stated.