Israeli court upholds six-month detention order for Gaza hospital boss

The decision by the Beersheba District Court reportedly made based on a secret file submitted by the Israeli Attorney General, alleging that Abu Safia poses a threat to “state security.”

During the court session, Abu Safia’s lawyer denied the allegations made against the doctor, stating that Abu Safia had been performing his professional duties as a director and treatment advisor within the hospital.

The prosecution refused a request to disclose their evidence, a decision the court upheld.

Israeli forces arrested Abu Safia on 27 December 2024, from the hospital in Beit Lahia in north Gaza, which was left out of service following Israeli attacks.

The hospital was stormed by Israeli troops following nearly three months of a suffocating blockade and constant air strikes on its departments and the area surrounding them.

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

Speaking to Arab48 earlier this month, Abu Safiya’s lawyer stated that he was prevented from meeting anyone, including his lawyer, from the day he was detained until 10 February.

Gheed Kassem was able to visit the doctor in the notorious Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, where he had been detained for over 70 days after spending nearly two weeks at the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Negev desert.

According to Kassem, the paediatric doctor was arrested and imprisoned for refusing to obey expulsion orders by the Israeli army “because his conscience and professionalism required him to remain in the hospital, especially with the presence of dozens of patients and wounded children.”

“The longest period of interrogation that Abu Safiya endured was 13 consecutive days, with each session lasting between eight to 10 hours. Throughout this entire time, he was subjected to relentless and brutal abuse, torture, and assault,” Kassem continued.

She added that the detainees are “almost completely isolated inside the prison”, without any knowledge or information about the outside world, unless they are allowed a visit.