Indigenous Healers in Crossfire: Gaza Doctor Faces Alleged Abuse
In a region still scarred by siege, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a seasoned Gaza hospital director, has endured detainment without charge for over eighteen months. His lawyer, Nasser Odeh, claims Dr. Abu Safiya suffered severe beatings at the notorious Rakefet interrogation center, leaving him almost unrecognizable during a recent visit.
Odeh told the BBC: "He nearly lost consciousness several times. The doctor’s face is covered in bruises—eyes, neck, ears—an unmistakable record of torture. He said, ‘I am living in hell; I fear for my life.’" The Israeli Prison Service dismissed these allegations as “false and without factual basis.”
Compounding these accusations, Israel’s Supreme Court has been ordered to respond to a petition calling for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and thirteen other Gaza‑born doctors detained under the Unlawful Combatants Law. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has condemned the arrests as arbitrary, urging immediate release and the provision of urgent medical care.
Similar stories echo across the globe: indigenous health practitioners in conflict zones routinely confront abduction, torture, and denial of care. International organisations like Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights Israel have urged Israel to transport Dr. Abu Safiya to a hospital and to comply with judicial oversight.
