Abu Safiya was the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, treating patients and leading the hospital as the area was under “total siege” by Israeli forces, according to the UN.
He was arrested in December 2024, when the Israeli army forced patients and medical staff out of the hospital, saying it was a “terrorist center for Hamas”. At that time, the World Health Organization called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza.
Photos circulated at the time showed Abu Safiya walking to an Israeli armored car wearing his white coat in a trash bin before he was taken for questioning.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement sent to the BBC said he was arrested for involvement in terrorist activities and for having a position in Hamas.
Abu Safiya holds the rank of colonel in the health department of the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, at a center that provides treatment for guards and police officers and their families.
However, medical staff and international aid groups who have worked with Abu Safiya deny that he is collaborating with or working for Hamas.
He was detained under the Unlawful Soldiers Act, which authorizes the military to detain Gazans suspected of posing a security risk for an unspecified period of time without trial.
The Israeli Prison Service has been heavily criticized in the past for its treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, which it denies.
In November 2025, the United Nations Committee against Torture said it was deeply concerned by reports indicating “the country’s de facto policy of systematic and widespread torture and ill-treatment” of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
That same month, the Israel-based human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said at least 94 Palestinian prisoners and detainees had died in Israeli custody in less than two years.
The Israeli Prison Service told the BBC that the allegations about Abu Safiya’s treatment made by his lawyer are false and unfounded.
It did not provide information such as the state of detention, the place of detention or the state of health, we said, for confidentiality and security, but we said that all prisoners and prisoners are kept in accordance with the law and receive medical care based on the guidelines of the health department.
The IPS added that it rejects allegations of abuse, torture, starvation or denial of medical treatment.
There have been statements that action has been taken on Abu Safiya’s case from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, whose spokesperson called it “truly alarming”. PHRI said he should be transferred immediately, given emergency treatment and visited by a judge.
PHRI also filed a petition in the Supreme Court in April asking for the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors from Gaza who are being held in Israel without trial.
On Monday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention accepted the view that Israel’s detention of Abu Safiya was arbitrary and called for his immediate release.
The panel of independent experts also said that this case is one of many brought to it “which may indicate a widespread or systematic practice of arbitrary detention of people in the country”.
The BBC has contacted the Israel Prison Service for comment on the task force’s findings.
