"Free Dr Abu Safiya," chanted the demonstrators at the protest organised by hospital unions, among them Patrick Pelloux, the high-profile head France's emergency doctor association.

It is the latest call for the release of Hussam Abu Safiya, a paediatrician and director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, who has reportedly suffered torture and life-threatening injuries in detention.

United Nations experts, the World Health Organization and Amnesty International have urged Israel to set him free.

Israel has claimed that his detention is "lawful" and rejected reports that he suffered a life-threatening condition.

Abu Safiya rose to prominence in 2024 by posting about the dire conditions in his besieged hospital in Beit Lahia during a major Israeli offensive.

On December 27 that year, Israeli occupation forces assaulted the facility, and arrested dozens of medical staff including Abu Safiya.

The demonstrators want a non-political medical delegation to be sent to assess Abu Safiya's "state of health" and prevent "his arbitrary detention from becoming a death sentence", said Cyrille Venet, former general-secretary of the SNMH-FO union.

In October, a ceasefire was reached in Gaza between Israel and Hamas following two years of war, which was sparked on October 7, 2023.

At least 1,110 Palestinians have been killed since the truce took effect, according to the Palestinian health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Overall, Israel's war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, has killed at least 73,250 Palestinians and injured more than 173,751 others, according to Gaza's health ministry. Many of the dead and wounded are women and children.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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