Gaza, MINA – A Palestinian human rights group said Friday that Israeli soldiers arrested Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, under Israel’s “unlawful combatant” law, despite his status as a civilian doctor, Anadolu Agency reported.
He was arrested from his workplace in December last year.
According to a statement from the Palestinian Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the head of the Israeli army’s Southern Command, Yaron Finkelman, issued an order on February 12 to detain Abu Safiya, 52, under the unlawful combatant law “instead of conducting a standard legal trial.”
The NGO said its lawyers visited Abu Safiya in Ofer Prison on February 11 and documented evidence that she had been subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
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Al-Mezan explained that the unlawful combatant law “seriously undermines the right to a fair trial by denying detainees the right to be informed of the charges against them and preventing them from challenging the evidence, effectively depriving them of the ability to defend themselves.”
The human rights group condemned the decision as “arbitrary, illegal, and retaliatory,” noting that it also demonstrated the Israeli prosecutor’s failure to prove its charges against Abu Safiya.
It urged the international community and UN agencies to take action to secure Abu Safiya’s immediate release along with other detained medical and humanitarian personnel.
On Tuesday, Abu Safiya’s family revealed that she had been subjected to severe torture and starvation in Israeli detention after a visit from a lawyer.
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On December 27, 2024, Israeli soldiers arrested Abu Safiya in northern Gaza from her workplace.
Following several raids on the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which Dr. Hussam had resisted Israeli pressure to evacuate, Israeli soldiers burned and damaged much of the facility, rendering it inoperable.
Several human rights groups around the world, including the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians and the US-based Doctors Against Genocide, have demanded “urgent action” to protect health workers in Gaza and the immediate release of Abu Safiya and other medical staff. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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