UN inquiry urges release of Palestinian doctor arrested by Israel | Gaza News

The investigative body is urging Israel to release Hussam Abu Safia, citing credible reports that he was seriously tortured.

The United Nations’ investigative body has called on Israel to release a Palestinian doctor who has been jailed for more than 18 months without charge.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory appealed on Wednesday to Hussam Abu Safia, the 52-year-old director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, saying there are credible reports that he is facing “excessive torture”.

Abu Safia’s lawyer Nasser Odeh has warned that the doctor health is at great risk when they are tortured every day. Rights groups and his family say he is showing signs being frequently harassed.

During a recent visit, Abu Safia was found so badly injured that Odeh had trouble recognizing him, according to the rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

Last month, images of Abu Safia appearing via video before an Israeli court showed her looking very emaciated on her face and stomach.

“The committee demands the immediate, unconditional and safe release of Dr. Abu Safiya and all medical workers detained illegally by Israel,” the committee said in a statement, using a slightly different spelling of the doctor’s name. “It also urges the Israeli authorities to provide immediate medical attention to Dr. Abu Safiya.”

‘Big worries’

Israeli authorities Abu Safia imprisoned him along with medical workers and patients in December 2024. They classified him as an “illegal soldier”, a name used by Israel to detain Palestinians for a long time without trial.

In a statement calling for his release, the organization said the Israeli authorities’ actions against Abu Safia reflected the violations it had found in previous reports.

“The actions of the Israeli prison authorities towards the Palestinian prisoners show a serious violation of international law that may amount to international crimes. Dr. Abu Safiya was sickened by these actions.”

The Reuters news agency said a spokesman for the Israel Prison Service (IPS) rejected the investigation’s claims as “false, outrageous, and without evidence”.

The spokesperson did not specifically name Abu Safia, although IPS has previously denied allegations that he or other doctors faced abuse in prison.

In September 2025, the organization said that Israeli authorities had killed dozens of medical personnel and medical professionals in Gaza since October 2023.

On Monday, a UN rights group called Abu Safia’s arrest “absurd” as well he asked for his immediate release. In its investigation, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Israel’s actions violate several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Abu Safia is one of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza who are currently being held by Israel without trial.

Before his imprisonment, he became a prominent voice in Gaza’s damaged medical sector and continued to work even after one of his sons was killed in an Israeli attack.