Hopes dashed for release of prominent Gaza doctor detained by Israel

A prominent doctor who had become a voice for besieged Palestinians in Gaza and was detained by Israeli forces in December has had his detention without charge extended, his family and legal representatives said Thursday

A prominent doctor who had become a voice for besieged Palestinians in Gaza and was detained by Israeli forces in December has had his detention without charge extended, his family and legal representatives said Thursday.

The family and supporters of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, had hoped he would be released under a ceasefire deal, along with dozens of medical workers who had been detained during Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

According to an X post by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a legal group based in Gaza, an Israeli court “rubberstamped” the extension of Abu Safiya’s detention for another six months in a closed-door hearing.

In a separate statement on Abu Safiya’s own account, his family also said his administrative detention had been extended. Israel has not commented on the case.

“There has been one shock after another, and the size of the pain is indescribable,” Abu Safiya’s son Elias Abu Safiya told NBC News over WhatsApp on Thursday. “I don’t know how I can sleep while my father is worried, how I can eat while my father is hungry, and how I can live my normal life.”