Special Rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Ben Saul stated that the 52-year-old physician’s current detention conditions flagrantly violate the Mandela Rules, which mandate minimum standards for prisoner healthcare. According to the experts, the doctor has been systematically deprived of life-saving treatment, leaving his health in a precarious state. Dr. Abu Safiya was taken into custody on December 28, 2024, during a siege on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, where he had remained to treat patients despite intense military pressure to abandon the facility.
Testimonies from former detainees suggest he was initially held at the Sde Teiman facility before being moved to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank. His case mirrors the death of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, another prominent Gaza physician who died while in Israeli custody under allegations of extreme abuse. The UN experts emphasized that international stakeholders hold the power to intervene, urging global leaders to secure the release of all detained healthcare workers in Gaza, where the destruction of medical infrastructure has been central to the ongoing conflict.
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