1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I’m writing for you to help save a Gazan doctor whose life is in danger. Physicians for Human Rights Israel says Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is in immediate danger of dying in Israeli detention. Dr. Abu Safiya was taken from Kamal Adwan in December 2024 and held in solitary without charge for over 500 days. According to his lawyer, he has been routinely beaten and tortured and his life is now in danger. His lawyer, Nasser Odeh, visited him July 2 at the underground Rakefet interrogation unit inside Nitzan Prison and said he barely recognized the man brought before him — shackled hand and foot, flanked by masked guards, his head, eyes, ears and neck covered in fresh injuries. Abu Safiya struggled to breathe and speak, couldn’t sit upright without nearly collapsing, and seemed close to losing consciousness. He was too frightened to speak freely. He told Odeh: this is the last time you will see me, they brought me here to kill me. According to the affidavit, guards entered his solitary cell after his Supreme Court hearing and beat him with a hammer and batons. Since his transfer to Rakefet on June 24 he has been beaten daily, repeatedly to the point of losing consciousness, with no medical care. Israel classifies Abu Safiya as a Hamas officer. In 18 months of detention it has produced no charge, no evidence, and no trial. Rakefet is a secret facility reportedly built for interrogation, now used for a detainee already held 18 months without questions left to ask. Haaretz’s own editorial board, not a Palestinian advocacy group, has told the Israeli state to indict Abu Safiya or release him. A charge requires proof. Proof invites scrutiny of what happened at Kamal Adwan — the siege, the bombed wards, the children who died for want of oxygen. Abu Safiya is not only a doctor. You have outsized influence with the Israeli government and a megaphone that can call attention to this matter. Please do what you can to free Dr. Abu Safiya and require Israel to respect human rights.