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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis is plain evil -Israel puts Palestinian doctor in solitary confinement after 17 months held without charge
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/09/israel-palestinian-doctor-hussam-abu-safiya-solitary-confinement-held-without-chargeThe son of a prominent Palestinian doctor who was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2024 and held for more than 500 days without formal charges has spoken of his deep concern for his fathers wellbeing after he was transferred without explanation to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, was detained at work on 27 December 2024. Physicians for Human Rights Israel said last week it had received information indicating that the 53-year-old had been transferred from Ketziot prison to Ramon prison, part of the Ganot prison complex, where he had been put in solitary confinement. PHRI said it had not been told the reasons for the transfer.
During a visit by a PHRI lawyer last month, Abu Safiya described harsh detention conditions, untreated medical problems and severe food shortages.
It is also a war crime.
hlthe2b
(114,931 posts)every bit of sympathy and empathy they rightfully received after Oct 7, 2023. No, the people of Israel still deserve our care for their horror after that attack and the months after with loved ones in captivity--that won't go away. But, the horror IDF and others have inflicted on civilians (and in this case the very health care providers desperately trying to care for them) is just plain EVIL. What is being conducted is a retribution genocide. October 7 cannot excuse it. Evil doesn't cancel out Evil.
malaise
(298,765 posts)Rec
AloeVera
(4,548 posts)Israel is holding him under its "unlawful combatants" law. If by "combatant" Israel means a doctor who refused to leave his patients at the last hospital in the North while enduring an IDF siege on his hospital for 80 days, then I guess the doctor is guilty.
I well-remember Dr. Safiya. He was brave and effective getting out his message to the world, appearing on Western media and documenting the horrors on Instagram. The last glimpse we had of him was as a lone figure walking amidst the rubble of his hospital to an IDF tank or vehicle to shake hands and tell the soldiers the hospital had been evacuated. After stepping into the vehicle, he was abducted and "disappeared".
Another heartbreaking - evil, actually - thing is that in October 2024, his 15-year old son was killed in an Israeli strike at the hospital entrance. He is buried on the hospital grounds. In the manner of "coincidences" and "accidents" we've come to learn about the IDF's tactics, the son's killing happened hours after Dr. Safiya had been arrested, interrogated and released by the IDF.
The box where he is now held is about 3 feet by 3 feet. Medieval.
He is being punished for being an effective advocate for his patients and his people, documenting and publicizing Israel's crimes and turning Western hearts and minds against Israel.
This documentary tells his story. I hope people will take the time to watch and call for his release.
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/fault-lines/2025/9/18/the-disappearance-of-dr-abu-safiya
malaise
(298,765 posts)Rec
erronis
(24,739 posts)AloeVera
(4,548 posts)Because we're the "good guys" and that narrative must be upheld.
erronis
(24,739 posts)AloeVera
(4,548 posts)That's what our media is for. To sell us a version of ourselves that is a lie. But a useful and necessary one, right? How else to convince our young people to sacrifice themselves in all our dirty wars?
Kid Berwyn
(25,291 posts)Those who think otherwise are the criminals.
purr-rat beauty
(1,537 posts)Both sides are utter shit