The lawyer representing Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya has revealed alarming details about his deteriorating condition in Israeli detention, warning that his health is now at serious risk.
Lawyer Nasser Odeh said Israeli occupation authorities had transferred Abu Safiya to solitary confinement after he suffered injuries to his head and face that left him struggling to breathe. According to Odeh, the injuries were caused by what he described as a systematic and brutal assault that Abu Safiya has been subjected to daily inside Israeli prisons.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Odeh said he had been able to visit Abu Safiya two days earlier. The doctor was brought into the visitation room with his hands and feet shackled and showed clear signs of difficulty walking and moving.
During their conversation, Abu Safiya expressed genuine fears that the visit could be their last. He told his lawyer that the actions of the Israeli authorities appeared intended to deliberately harm him. In Odeh’s assessment, the doctor’s remarks raise fears that there may be a predetermined decision to kill him inside detention.
In an attempt to address Abu Safiya’s critical medical condition, Odeh demanded his immediate transfer from Israel’s Rakevet prison facility in Ramla, where he was recently moved. The lawyer described the facility as a “human slaughterhouse”.
Odeh also submitted an urgent request to visit Abu Safiya again and assess his condition, but Israeli occupation authorities completely rejected the request, preventing further scrutiny of his health.
The lawyer also demanded that the Israeli authorities and prison administration immediately release Abu Safiya and provide him with medical treatment. However, he said he had received no response from the Israeli authorities by the time of his interview with Al Jazeera.
Repeated Transfers Between Prisons
Addressing the repeated transfer of Abu Safiya between detention facilities, Odeh said the constant movement forms part of a system of deliberate punishment and systematic torture.
According to the lawyer, the purpose is to send prisoners a clear message that they have no rights, while creating the appearance before lawyers and the international community that legal procedures are being followed.
Odeh said that only days after the defence submitted a legal petition, Dr Abu Safiya was transferred to solitary confinement and deprived of basic rights, including even basic medical treatment and access to his lawyer.
Following the conclusion of a court hearing, Abu Safiya was transferred to the prison wings, where five guards severely assaulted him using their hands, batons and hammers, according to Odeh.
Despite the severity of the assault, the doctor has received no medical treatment.
A Judicial Cover for Israeli Authorities
Regarding the legal process and the anticipated response from the court, Odeh said there could be no reliance on the Israeli judicial system, arguing that it functions as a shield for the occupation authorities and consistently provides them with legal cover, particularly in cases involving detained doctors.
He said the numerous petitions submitted by the defence had failed to achieve any meaningful progress, describing the role of the judicial system as one of sanitising the actions of the Israeli occupation authorities.
Haaretz had reported that the Israeli Supreme Court gave prosecutors until Tuesday to respond to an appeal seeking the release of 14 doctors from Gaza, including Hussam Abu Safiya.
The court also requested information about the health condition of Abu Safiya, who remains in solitary confinement.
Responding to the court’s latest decision, Odeh described it as purely procedural. He said the court had merely asked prosecutors to clarify Abu Safiya’s medical condition, without ordering his release or setting a date for it.
According to the lawyer, continued pressure is therefore necessary to stop the violence and abuses being committed against Abu Safiya and more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners.
With meaningful legal action effectively paralysed within the Israeli system, Odeh acknowledged that defence lawyers have few legal tools available inside the occupied territories. He said reliance on the Israeli judicial system itself restricts and narrows the space available for meaningful action.
Faced with this legal deadlock, the lawyer said they were simultaneously taking urgent action by approaching several ambassadors, European governments and relevant international institutions, urging them to exert genuine pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to protect Dr Abu Safiya.
He issued an urgent appeal to international bodies to take immediate and preventative action before it is too late.
Odeh also revealed that more than 100 medical personnel had been detained without any charges being brought against them.
UN Body Declares Abu Safiya’s Detention Arbitrary
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday described Israel’s detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya in Gaza as arbitrary and called for his immediate release, as human rights organisations warned that his life was in imminent danger.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a report that Israel’s actions violated multiple provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Israeli Prison Service, meanwhile, denied reports that Abu Safiya and other doctors had been mistreated in prison.
The Israeli Supreme Court had previously refrained from commenting on appeals seeking his release.
