Dr Hussam Abu Safiyeh, a respected Palestinian physician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has now spent over six months in Israeli detention, isolated, tortured, and stripped of his dignity. His physical and psychological deterioration, revealed by his lawyer, paints a grim picture of what Palestinian detainees are enduring behind bars.

According to his legal representative, Dr Abu Safiyeh has lost over 40 kilos in weight and remains locked in an underground cell, still wearing his winter clothes in the peak of summer. He has been subjected to brutal beatings, prolonged isolation, and denied access to essential medical care, even as he battles a serious heart condition. His glasses arrived broken; his requests for a cardiologist were ignored.

Held without trial under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatant” law, Dr Abu Safiyeh’s only “crime” appears to be his commitment to serving the sick and wounded in Gaza. Even after losing his son in an Israeli airstrike, who was buried in the hospital yard due to the ongoing siege, his captors refused to grant him the right to grieve. Instead, he was dragged from one interrogation room to another, tortured for nearly two weeks, while the world remained largely silent.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have expressed deep concern over his case, describing the treatment of Palestinian detainees, including medical personnel, as systematic torture and a violation of international law. Dr Abu Safiyeh’s ordeal is not an isolated case, it is emblematic of a broader policy of collective punishment targeting Gaza’s healthcare workers, many of whom have been disappeared, detained, or killed. In this war, even doctors are enemies.