A year on, Israel still holds Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia without charge

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Gaza City – Dr Hussam Abu Safia, 52, remains successful an Israeli prison a twelvemonth aft Israel detained him without charges oregon trial.

His household and supporters are demanding his release arsenic his wellness deteriorates amid reports of the inhumane conditions nether which helium is being held.

A family’s suffering

Abu Safia is being held successful utmost conditions and, according to lawyers, has mislaid much than a 3rd of his assemblage weight.

His household is disquieted astir him arsenic helium besides suffers from bosom problems, an irregular heartbeat, precocious humor pressure, tegument infections and a deficiency of specialised aesculapian care.

His eldest son, Ilyas, 27, told Al Jazeera via Zoom from Kazakhstan, wherever the household fled a period ago, astir their grief implicit Abu Safia’s detention, adding that his father’s lone “crime” was being a doctor.

Ilyas, his parent Albina and 4 siblings stayed with his begetter astatine Kamal Adwan done the Israeli attacks, contempt opportunities to permission Gaza, particularly arsenic Albina is simply a Kazakh citizen.

On October 26, 2024, Israel killed Ilyas’s brother, Ibrahim, 20, portion it shelled the hospital.

“The full aesculapian unit cried successful grief for [my father] and for Ibrahim,” Ilyas said.

The taking of Dr Abu Safia

At dawn connected December 27, 2024, the infirmary woke up to a tightened Israeli siege with tanks and quadcopter drones.

Israeli tanks had been astir Kamal Adwan since mid-October 2024, gradually moving person – destroying parts of the infrastructure similar h2o tanks – until that time erstwhile they were truthful adjacent cipher could determination outside.

Doctor successful scrubs sitting with arms crossed

Patients and unit gathered successful the exigency reception corridor, according to Dr Walid al-Badi, 29, who stayed with Abu Safia until his arrest, and spoke to Al Jazeera connected December 25 astatine the Baptist Hospital successful Gaza City.

“The concern was highly tense, loudspeakers were calling connected everyone to evacuate, but Dr Abu Safia asked america to stay calm. Then the loudspeakers called Dr Abu Safia to travel to the tank.”

Abu Safia was ordered to participate an armoured vehicle. According to al-Badi, the doc returned carrying a expanse of instructions, dishevelled, his apparel dusty and a bruise nether his chin.

Everyone rushed to cheque connected him, and helium told them that helium had been assaulted.

“Israeli media showed a video claiming they … treated him with respect, but they didn’t amusement … however helium was assaulted successful the tank, threatened,” al-Badi said.

Abu Safia was ordered by the Israelis to hole a database of everyone successful the hospital, which helium did and returned to the armoured vehicle, wherever helium was told that lone 20 unit could remain. The remainder had to leave.

“Around 10am, the Israelis allowed immoderate ambulances to instrumentality patients, wounded people, immoderate displaced civilians, and the doctor’s household to the Indonesian Hospital [about 1km away] portion the aesculapian teams near connected foot,” al-Badi recounts.

However, respective patients remained, besieged on with the medics.

“The doc told maine to go, but I told him I would enactment with him until the end.”

The lone pistillate medic who remained was intensive attraction portion head, Dr Mai Barhouma, who spoke to Al Jazeera from the Baptist Hospital.

Barhouma had been moving with captious patients babelike connected aesculapian instrumentality and oxygen, and her conscience would not let her to leave, contempt Abu Safia asking her to.

The Israeli service repeatedly summoned Abu Safia for caller instructions, once, according to Drs Barhouma and al-Badi, offering a harmless exit for him alone.

He refused, insisting that helium would enactment with his staff. At astir 10pm, the quadcopters ordered everyone to enactment up and evacuate.

During this time, Israel shelled and acceptable occurrence to the precocious floors and turned disconnected the electricity.

“We were heartbroken arsenic Dr Abu Safia led [us] out,” al-Badi recalled. “I hugged Dr Abu Safia, who was crying arsenic helium near the infirmary helium tried truthful hard to enactment in.”

Testimonies from that time accidental aesculapian unit were taken to al-Fakhoura School successful Jabalia, wherever they were beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers during interrogations.

Barhouma near successful an ambulance with an ICU patient, but the ambulance was held for hours astatine the school.

Doctor successful her achromatic overgarment and a hijab smiles astatine the camera

“The soldiers bound our hands and forced america to locomotion towards al-Fakhoura school, [2km away] from the hospital. Our colleagues who had near successful the greeting were inactive there, being tortured,” al-Badi recalled, adding that they arrived astatine astir midnight.

“They ordered america to portion down to our underwear, tied our hands and began severely beating america with boots and firearm butts, insulting and verbally abusing us.”

The interrogation and beatings of the medics successful the freezing acold continued for hours portion Barhouma was successful the ambulance with the critically sick patient.

“The oxygen ran out, truthful I started utilizing a manual resuscitation pump. My hands swelled from pumping nonstop, terrified that the diligent would die,” she said.

She described proceeding the screams of the antheral medics being tortured, and past being ordered retired of the ambulance by Israeli soldiers.

“The worker asked for my ID and took an oculus scan, past ordered maine to get out, but I refused and told him I had a captious diligent who would dice if I near them.”

Eventually, the Israelis released the medics, including al-Badi and Abu Safia, ordering them to caput for occidental Gaza, portion sending the ambulance with Barhouma successful it connected an alternate way westwards.

But the alleviation didn’t last. They had lone walked a fewer metres erstwhile an Israeli serviceman called retired to Abu Safia.

“Our faces froze,” al-Badi said. “The doc asked what was wrong. The officers said: ‘We privation you with america successful Israel.’”

Al-Badi and a caregiver tried to propulsion the doc away, but helium rebuked them and told them to support walking.

“I was crying similar a kid being separated from his begetter arsenic I watched the doc being arrested and dressed successful the achromatic nylon azygous for detainees.”

Calls for his release

Abu Safia’s household are appealing to quality rights and ineligible bodies for his contiguous release.

“My father’s lawyers visited him astir 7 times implicit the past year, [each sojourn allowed only] aft exhausting attempts with the situation administration. Each time, my father’s information has deteriorated significantly,” Ilyas told Al Jazeera.

A photograph of a machine surface with the representation of Ilyas Abu Safiya connected a video call. A clean-shaven young antheral with acheronian hair. Reflected successful the machine surface is simply a streetlight due to the fact that the journalists could lone get capable net to tally an online interrogation by lasting successful the street, owed to Israel's blockade of each services and goods successful Gaza

“[He] has fractures successful his thigh and shrapnel successful his ft from an wounded portion astatine the infirmary earlier his arrest. He besides suffers different wellness problems and is subjected to terrible intelligence and carnal maltreatment that does not befit his age.

“Israel is trying to criminalise my father’s work, his continued work to radical and his efforts to prevention the wounded and the sick successful an country Israel itself considered a ‘red zone’ astatine the time.

“My father’s beingness and steadfastness wrong the infirmary posed a large obstacle to the Israeli service and its program to bare the northbound of its residents.”

Ilyas is arrogant of his father.

“My begetter is simply a doc who volition beryllium held up worldwide arsenic an illustration of adherence to aesculapian morals and courage.

“I americium arrogant beyond words, and I anticipation to clasp him soon and spot him look from the acheronian of situation harmless and well.”