Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), which is a nongovernmental organization, issued a stark warning regarding a severe deterioration in Abu Safiya’s health. The group revealed that his condition spiraled after he was transferred to a subterranean interrogation unit at the Nitzan detention facility in Ramla, emphasizing that he currently faces imminent danger.
The organization's legal counsel, Nasser Odeh, documented extensive injuries, signs of violent physical assault, breathing difficulties, and recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness during a legal visit to Abu Safiya on 2 July.
According to Odeh, Abu Safiya was brought to the meeting shackled at both his hands and feet, flanked by masked prison guards. The physician bore fresh, severe trauma and deep bruising across his head, eyes, ears, and neck, rendering him nearly unrecognizable. Abu Safiya testified to his lawyer that four or five prison guards violently beat him inside his cell, targeting multiple areas of his body.
Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at PHRI, stated that the findings raise grave, immediate concerns for Abu Safiya's survival. Describing the lawyer’s testimony as one of the most disturbing the organization has received since the war began, Abbas cited Abu Safiya's own harrowing statement that he feared he would be killed in custody.
Abbas noted that the abuse intensified after Abu Safiya legally challenged the continuation of his detention in court, adding that the sequence of events demands an immediate, independent investigation. He stressed that Israeli authorities bear full legal and moral responsibility for the safety of anyone in their custody.
Israeli occupation forces originally detained Abu Safiya on 27 December 2024, during a military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, when the medical facility was operating under catastrophic wartime conditions.
Since his arrest, Abu Safiya has rarely been seen, with various sources and recently released detainees who encountered him confirming that he has been “subjected to severe isolation and brutal torture within Israeli prisons”.
Odeh had previously raised alarms following a 26 May visit, noting that Abu Safiya was being held under “severe and punitive conditions”.
Odeh explained that Abu Safiya is being kept continuously shackled by his hands and feet, and is “systematically denied access to clean drinking water, adequate nutrition, and routine medical care, despite suffering from pre-existing chronic illnesses”.
The chilling updates on Abu Safiya's condition have ignited a wave of international condemnation, with United Nations (UN) officials and Western lawmakers demanding immediate intervention to secure his medical treatment and release.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, reacted sharply to the reports, questioning why global advocacy campaigns to “bring them home” are selectively applied to only certain hostages.
“What Palestinians endure under Israel's apartheid regime is not an exception or an anomaly; it is the core of the system itself,” Albanese stated, adding that “the deafening silence surrounding this is the precise measure of our collective hypocrisy.”
In the United Kingdom, Member of Parliament and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn expressed being “profoundly disturbed” by the reports of Abu Safiya's rapid deterioration, renewing his demands for the immediate release of the director and all Palestinian medical personnel held without charge.
Similarly, British MP John McDonnell announced he had raised Abu Safiya’s case directly within the UK Parliament. Citing PHRI's findings that the doctor's life hangs in the balance, McDonnell confirmed he has contacted the relevant government minister to pressure for urgent diplomatic intervention.
In Canada, New Democratic Party MP Don Davies amplified McDonnell’s parliamentary appeal, calling on the Canadian government to join international efforts demanding the immediate release of Abu Safiya and all unlawfully detained healthcare workers.
Abu Safiya’s family has placed full responsibility for his life and well-being on Israeli authorities and the Israel Prison Service. They condemned his recent transfer to solitary confinement and underground interrogation as a “dangerous escalation” and a punitive measure designed to break him amid ongoing medical neglect and harsh detention conditions.
PHRI has reiterated its urgent appeal for the immediate release of Abu Safiya and hundreds of other Palestinian medical professionals currently being held indefinitely without formal charges or trial.
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