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Dr. Hussam Abu Safia Faces Risk Of Death In Israeli Prison

Above photo: AFP.

‘They brought me here to kill me.’

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said Abu Safia’s jailers are trying to ‘eliminate’ him via a ‘slow killing’ in Israeli custody.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the Kamal Adwan Hospital director who was abducted from Gaza by Israel in late 2024, is facing an immediate risk of death due to the torture and severe negligence he has been subjected to by his jailers, the physician’s lawyer said on 4 July. 

“Alarming new information conveyed by … Abu Safia’s lawyer, in cooperation with Physicians for Human Rights, conclusively demonstrates that Israeli occupation authorities are intensifying direct targeting of Dr. Abu Safia by subjecting him to systematic torture and harsh detention conditions,” Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC) said.

It confirmed that Abu Safia remains in solitary confinement and is being denied medical care.

The PPS added that these measures were aimed at “physically and psychologically exhausting him” and mark a clear attempt by Tel Aviv to “eliminate him inside Israeli prisons” – calling it a “slow killing.”

Abu Safia’s lawyer Nasser Odeh had visited his client at the underground Rakefet interrogation facility in Israel’s Nitzan Prison on Thursday.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel cited Odeh as saying on Saturday that Abu Safia “bore fresh, severe injuries to his head, around his eyes, and on his ears and neck.”

According to the NGO, Odeh “initially struggled to recognize him.”

During the lawyer’s visit to the Israeli torture center, Abu Safia “experienced difficulty breathing” and looked to be “extremely weak.”

Odeh wrote that Abu Safia “struggled to sit upright without falling, and on several occasions seemed on the verge of losing consciousness.”

“Based on these direct observations, Attorney Odeh concluded that Dr. Abu Safiya’s life is in immediate danger,” said Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

The NGO has called for Abu Safia’s immediate transfer to another facility to assess his condition, while demanding an independent and “urgent” medical examination.

The embattled physician, who has spent close to two years in Israeli custody, conveyed a harrowing message to his attorney during their last meeting.

“This is the last time you will see me … They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end.”

The Israeli Prison Service – run by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir – responded by saying its conduct is carried out in accordance with the law.

“Every complaint received is examined and treated in accordance with protocol and in accordance with the law,” the Prison Service claimed.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safia’s family, led by his son, has issued an urgent appeal they describe as possibly their “last cry” before it is too late, while Israeli Knesset member Ofer Cassif has called for his immediate release.

Abu Safia had previously been held at the Sde Teiman facility, the notorious Israeli prison where a Palestinian detainee was brutally raped by soldiers in July 2024. The soldiers responsible were only briefly detained, and recently had all charges against them dropped.

The latest update on Abu Safia’s condition comes weeks after Israel’s High Court rejected an appeal for his release.

In May, former Palestinian prisoners came forward with disturbing testimonies and firsthand accounts of the torture and health deterioration Abu Safia has faced in Israeli custody.

One former detainee said Israeli jailers stripped the physician naked and unleashed police dogs to attack him.

Another released prisoner said “the prison cells echoed with the doctor’s screams under severe beatings” from Israeli prison guards.

Tel Aviv has made unfounded claims that the doctor, who is being held without charge, was a member of Hamas. His detention was extended by six months in late 2025 under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law.

Abu Safia was among many doctors in the besieged Gaza Strip who refused to halt their medical work after the Israeli military ordered them to flee.

He was abducted by troops in December 2024 during an Israeli raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of many throughout the war.

According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, people were executed during the raid, including medical staff and displaced civilians who had been sheltering in the hospital.

By July 2025, Abu Safia had lost around 40 kilograms since being dragged to an Israeli prison, his lawyer said last year.

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