Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jul 7

UN Panel Urges Release of Gaza Doctor Held 18 Months as Lawyer Alleges Severe Jail Beating

Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jul 7

UN Panel Urges Release of Gaza Doctor Held 18 Months as Lawyer Alleges Severe Jail Beating

Q: What secret evidence holds a Gaza doctor without trial amid UN condemnation and severe torture claims?

The “secret evidence” is classified intelligence Israel says links Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya to Hamas, including allegations that he was involved in “terrorist activities” and held a rank in Hamas’s health apparatus. No public evidence has been produced, and neither he nor his lawyers have been allowed to fully examine the material. He is being held without charge under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows potentially indefinite detention of Gaza detainees on the basis of undisclosed security evidence rather than a criminal indictment. That is the legal mechanism keeping him in custody more than 18 months after his December 2024 arrest. Israel’s military has described Kamal Adwan hospital, where Abu Safiya was director, as a Hamas stronghold and says he was detained on security grounds. Medical colleagues, aid groups and rights organizations dispute those claims and say no substantiated proof has been presented. The secrecy around the case is central to the international criticism. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said his detention is arbitrary and called for his immediate release, while Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Amnesty International have demanded judicial oversight, medical treatment and release. Those calls intensified after his lawyer said he saw severe bruising and signs of torture at the Rakefet facility, allegations the Israel Prison Service denies.

2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 7

A UN Working Group said Israel’s detention of Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safiya was arbitrary and called for his immediate release after more than 18 months without charge.
Last week’s lawyer visit drove the urgency: Nasser Odeh said Abu Safiya was so badly beaten at the Rakefet interrogation facility that he was barely recognizable, struggled to breathe and said guards assaulted him after a Supreme Court appeal.
Israel Prison Service called the abuse allegations false, said detainees receive medical care under the law, and gave no details on his condition or detention status for privacy and security reasons.
Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to answer by Tuesday a petition seeking the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Gaza doctors held without charge under the Unlawful Combatants Law.
The case adds to wider scrutiny of Israeli detention practices: the UN torture committee cited reports of organized abuse in 2025, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said at least 94 Palestinian detainees had died in custody in under two years.

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BBC.com1d ago

UN Working Group Declares Detention of Gaza Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya Arbitrary, Urges Release Amid Torture Claims

Al Jazeera English1d ago

Detained Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia shows signs of torture, family says | Gaza News | Al Jazeera

What secret evidence holds a Gaza doctor without trial amid UN condemnation and severe torture claims?

Is one doctor's alleged torture an isolated case, or proof of a systematic policy in Israeli prisons?

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s Detention: UN Declares Imminent Risk of Death Amid Israeli Supreme Court Rejection and Widespread Allegations of Torture

Overview

The Israeli Supreme Court has approved the continued detention of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Gaza hospital director, under Israel’s 'Unlawful Combatants Law' without charges. He is one of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza currently held without charge, a practice widely condemned by rights groups as arbitrary detention that strips detainees of basic legal safeguards. This law allows Palestinians to be held for prolonged periods without trial. In response, international bodies and human rights organizations are intensifying calls for Dr. Abu Safiya’s immediate release, with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention implicitly challenging such detentions.

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