UN inquiry calls for release of Gaza doctor held by Israel since December 2024

JERUSALEM: A United Nations inquiry has urged the immediate release of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, while voicing concern over reported abuse during his detention in Israel since December 2024.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, said on Wednesday that the reported treatment of Abu Safiya raised serious concerns under international law. Rights groups and his lawyer have said his life is in imminent danger, while Physicians for Human Rights Israel said he continues to be held without charge.

In a statement, the UN inquiry said the conduct attributed to Israeli authorities in Abu Safiya’s case appeared consistent with a wider pattern it had identified earlier. It said his medical condition was a direct consequence of the actions reported during his detention.

The commission said “The actions of the Israeli Prison Service guards towards Palestinian detainees raise grave concerns of violations of international law that likely amount to international crimes. “Dr Abu Safiya’s medical condition is the direct result of these actions,”

Israeli prison service rejects allegations

An Israel Prison Service spokesperson rejected the claims on Wednesday, saying the allegations were unfounded. The spokesperson did not mention Abu Safiya by name, but the prison service has previously denied accusations that he and other doctors were mistreated while in custody.

The spokesperson said “The allegations and characterisations described are false, outrageous, and entirely without factual basis.”

On Monday, Abu Safiya’s lawyer alleged that his health was in danger and that he had been subjected to daily abuse. In June, he appeared by video link at a Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem and was described as noticeably thinner in his face and around his abdomen.

Separate UN body also challenges detention

Earlier this week, a separate UN rights body also called for Abu Safiya’s release. On Monday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Israel’s detention of the Gaza doctor was arbitrary and found that it violated several provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The commission linked Abu Safiya’s case to its earlier findings on Gaza’s health sector. In September 2025, it accused Israeli authorities of committing genocide by targeting the healthcare system and medical workers in Gaza since October 2023. Israel rejected that accusation at the time as scandalous.

Israel has also accused the inquiry itself of pursuing a political agenda against the country and straying from its mandate, while refusing to cooperate with it.