Doctors from around world ask for release of Gaza hospital director

Doctors, medical professionals and regular civilians have taken to social media this week to share their support for Abu Safiya, using the hashtag “FreeDrHussamAbuSafiyeh”, as well as amplifying demands that Israel stop attacking Gaza’s hospitals in its war on the besieged enclave which began in October 2023.

In addition to the trending hashtag, a petition was started on the Change.org platform.

The petition is addressed to US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and calls on “the international community, particularly the United States, to use its influence and authority to force Israel to immediately release Dr Abu Safiya and other medical personnel and patients detained at Kamal Adwan”.

“Healthcare is not a crime. Deliberately attacking hospitals, medical staff, and patients is,” the petition statement reads.

Almost 2,000 people have signed the petition, citing international laws which prohibit deliberate or wilful attacks on medical facilities and personnel, as well as the wounded and sick.

The family of Abu Safiya also appealed to the international community to take action for the the doctor’s release.

Medical professionals shared images online with hand-written messages saying #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya to draw more attention to the cause.

Israeli forces detained Abu Safiya on Friday after storming Kamal Adwan hospital. During Israel’s assault, several departments caught on fire, killing and wounding Palestinian medical workers and patients, according to Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.

In the raid, Israeli troops confirmed they killed at least 20 Palestinians.

According to reports on Monday, Abu Safiya is currently being held at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison, where abuse, including torture, killings and rape, is rife, recently released detainees have said.

Bursh stated that Israeli soldiers violently beat Abu Safiya before they arrested him.

Since the news of Abu Safiya being detained at Sde Teiman, many people online have called for accountability and an explanation from the Israeli authorities.

The Kamal Adwan hospital, which was northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital, has now been rendered out of service following continuous Israeli attacks.

Abu Safiya has gained prominence throughout the Israeli war on Gaza through his calls for better healthcare for all Palestinians and his regular updates from the wartorn enclave.

He has also been praised for refusing to neglect patients at Kamal Adwan hospital, even as Israel stormed it and forcibly removed healthcare professionals there.

The last photograph taken of him before he was detained by Israel shows Abu Safiya in his medical garb walking alone towards two Israeli tanks with rubble completely surrounding him. That image has since gone viral.

All remaining medical staff, patients and their relatives were taken out of the hospital at gunpoint on Friday, forced to strip down to their underwear and transferred to an unknown location.

At the time of the raid, there were 350 people in the hospital, including 180 medical workers and 75 wounded people, according to the Gaza-based Government Media Office.

Hundreds of medical personnel had been killed since the start of the war, according to reports.