Elyas Abu Safia says his father can barely breathe or communicate after greater than 555 days in Israeli jail.
Printed On 5 Jul 2026
The son of a distinguished Palestinian physician kidnapped and held by Israel with out cost has issued an pressing enchantment for his father’s launch, warning that his well being has sharply deteriorated after greater than 555 days in jail, as a rights group warned that his life was in peril.
Elyas Abu Safia, the son of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, stated in a video message on Sunday that his father, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, confirmed indicators of extreme abuse after Israeli authorities transferred him to solitary confinement in a maximum-security jail.
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“The day earlier than yesterday, the lawyer Nasser Odeh managed to go to my father, the place he informed us painful particulars about this go to,” stated Elyas, who can also be a physician.
“My father was unable to breathe. My father was unable to talk,” he stated, including: “His face was disfigured from the marks of torture and ache, and the blood he endured contained in the jail, particularly after the final court session held in Jerusalem.”
Israeli forces arrested Abu Safia at work on December 27, 2024, as they intensified their assaults on northern Gaza’s healthcare system as a part of the genocidal conflict in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza. Two months earlier, an Israeli drone assault killed one other of his sons, Ibrahim, on the entrance of the hospital the place he labored.
Elyas accused Arab and Muslim leaders of abandoning his father.
“You disadvantaged us even of your voices, your solidarity and your assist, which ought to have been there from the beginning of the detention,” he stated.
“However sadly, your silence is a betrayal and against the law, and complicity in torturing my father and the hostages inside Israeli prisons,” he added.
‘Probably the most surprising testimony’
Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that Abu Safiya’s life is in fast hazard after his switch to the Rakefet part of Nitzan jail.
The group stated lawyer Nasser Odeh visited Abu Safia on July 2 and documented extreme accidents, indicators of assault, problem respiration and repeated lack of consciousness. It stated guards introduced him into the go to along with his fingers and ft sure and surrounded him with masked officers.
Odeh additionally noticed recent bruises and accidents on Abu Safiya’s head, round his eyes, ears and neck. The injuries have been so extreme that the lawyer struggled to recognise him, the group stated.
“The knowledge we obtained raises critical and fast considerations for Abu Safiya’s life. The lawyer’s testimony is among the many most surprising we’ve heard for the reason that starting of the conflict: a person detained with out cost tells his lawyer that he believes they are going to kill him, after he arrived for the go to injured, affected by problem respiration, and on the verge of dropping consciousness,” Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Division at Physicians for Human Rights, informed the official Palestinian information company Wafa.
Israeli authorities haven’t filed expenses in opposition to Abu Safia. They categorized him as an “illegal combatant”, a designation Israel has used to carry Palestinians for extended durations with out trial.
Physicians for Human Rights has demanded his launch, together with different imprisoned Palestinian medical doctors. In March, United Nations consultants additionally known as on Israel to free Abu Safia instantly and guarantee he receives medical care.
He’s certainly one of 14 Palestinian medical doctors from Gaza at present held by Israel with out cost.
