New by Attorney Nasser Odeh, the lawyer representing Dr. Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, following his visit to Dr. Abu Safiya at the underground Rakefet interrogation facility in Nitzan Prison, indicates a severe deterioration in his condition to the point of tangible danger to his life. Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Attorney Odeh are calling for his immediate transfer from the facility and an urgent judicial visit to assess his condition – before it is too late.*
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and Attorney Nasser Odeh warned today (Saturday) that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, is in immediate danger to his life, following new information obtained during a visit by his lawyer, Attorney Nasser Odeh, on July 2 at the Rakefet facility in Nitzan Prison.
According to Attorney Odeh’s affidavit, Dr. Abu Safiya was brought to the meeting shackled by his hands and feet and accompanied by masked prison guards. He bore fresh, severe injuries to his head, around his eyes, and on his ears and neck—to the extent that his lawyer initially struggled to recognize him.
During the visit, Dr. Abu Safiya experienced difficulty breathing and speaking continuously. He appeared extremely weak, struggled to sit upright without falling, and on several occasions seemed on the verge of losing consciousness. Attorney Odeh noted that he appeared frightened, exhibited severe psychological distress and was reluctant to speak freely due to fear of being targeted. Based on these direct observations, Attorney Odeh concluded that Dr. Abu Safiya’s life is in immediate danger.
Dr. Abu Safiya reported to his attorney that shortly after his Supreme Court appeal hearing (which took place on June 10, 2026), while he was held in solitary confinement at Ganot Prison, four or five prison guards entered his cell and assaulted him with a hammer and batons, inflicting injuries across his body. He further detailed that since his transfer to the Rakefet facility on June 24, 2026, he has been subjected to daily beatings, resulting in several instances of loss of consciousness, but without receiving appropriate medical treatment.
He expressed grave fear for his life, stating: “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.”
Following the visit, Attorney Nasser Odeh urgently appealed to the Israel Prison Service, demanding an end to the harm being inflicted on Dr. Abu Safiya, his immediate transfer to another detention facility, and the provision of urgent medical examination and treatment due to the real threat to his life. In his letter, Attorney Odeh made it clear that should the IPS fail to take immediate, concrete measures for his protection, full responsibility for any further deterioration in his condition or any harm caused to him would rest with the Prison Service and the competent authorities who failed to act.
Concurrently, PHRI sent urgent appeals to Israel’s Attorney General, the Commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, the Chief Public Defender, and the Chairs of both the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The organization called for an immediate visit by an official body independent of the prison authorities and an urgent independent medical examination due to grave concerns for his life.
Dr. Abu Safiya has been held by Israel since December 27, 2024, under the Unlawful Enemy Combatants Law, without charge and without due process. After the Be’er Sheva District Court extended his detention on April 28, 2026, for an additional six months, he appealed to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal last month (June 10, 2026). In parallel, Physicians for Human Rights Israel filed a petition with the Supreme Court on April 30, 2026, demanding his release and the release of other doctors from Gaza currently incarcerated.
Until early June, he was held in Ktzi’ot Prison. Shortly after filing the appeal and the petition seeking his release and the release of the other detained doctors, he was transferred to solitary confinement in Ganot Prison and, last week—on June 24, to the Rakefet facility in Nitzan Prison. According to PHRI and his lawyer’s testimony, the dramatic escalation in the beatings and alleged torture inflicted upon him, which led to a severe deterioration in his physical and mental condition, occurred shortly after these legal proceedings were filed.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel reiterates its demand for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and the other doctors who are being held without charges.
Rakefet is an underground interrogation and detention facility inside Nitzan Prison, where allegations of violence and abuse against detainees have previously been reported. Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns that, given Dr. Abu Safiya’s condition and the information provided by his attorney, any delay in intervention prolongs the imminent danger to his life, and notes that competent authorities remain fully accountable for the safety of those under their responsibility and custody. Every moment that Dr. Abu Safiya, along with the remaining doctors and medical staff, are held by Israeli authorities without independent monitoring places their lives in jeopardy. The organization urgently demands an immediate and independent investigation to examine their conditions of detention and the torture they are reportedly undergoing.
*Attorney Nasser Odeh, Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyer*, stated: “I have visited Dr. Abu Safiya several times since his detention, but the individual I encountered during this latest visit was not the same person I had previously met. His physical and psychological state, the severe injuries visible on his body, and his personal testimony leave no room for doubt: his life is in immediate danger. He must be transferred out of the Rakefet facility immediately and granted an urgent, independent examination.”
*Naji Abbas, Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel*, stated: “The information we have received raises grave and immediate concerns for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s life. Attorney Nasser Odeh’s testimony is among the most disturbing we have heard since the beginning of the war: a man held without charge telling his lawyer that he believes he is going to be killed, after arriving at the meeting injured, struggling to breathe and on the verge of losing consciousness. The severe deterioration in his condition began after he challenged his continued detention before the courts—a sequence of events requires an immediate and independent investigation. When an individual is held in state custody, the state bears full responsibility for his safety, health and life. If the authorities do not intervene immediately, there is a real risk that Dr. Abu Safiya will not leave detention alive. We demand urgent action before it is too late.”
