… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tag: Palestinian pediatrician

Detained Gaza hospital director Abu Safiya nominated for European Parliament human rights prize
Spread the love
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Activists gather to stage a protest demanding the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 06, 2026. [Saeed Qaq – Anadolu Agency]
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the detained director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been nominated for the European Parliament’s 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the parliament announced Thursday, Anadolu reports.
Abu Safiya was nominated by the Greens and The Left political groups as one of six candidates for the annual award, which recognizes individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician and former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been held in Israeli custody since his detention by Israeli forces in December 2024.
He has been detained without charge or trial, with Israel alleging that Abu Safiya is affiliated with Hamas, an allegation his lawyers and family have denied.
Rights groups have also raised concerns about his health and treatment in custody.
The parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Development committees are due to vote on a shortlist of three nominees on Oct. 19 in Strasbourg, while the laureate is scheduled to be selected on Oct. 22.
The other 2026 Sakharov Prize nominees are El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, nominated by the Europe of Sovereign Nations group; the International Criminal Court and its officials, nominated by the Socialists and Democrats; and Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu, nominated by the European People’s Party and European Conservatives and Reformists.
The remaining nominees are Iranian activists Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, nominated by Patriots for Europe, and Standing Together, an Israeli Jewish-Palestinian grassroots movement, nominated by Renew Europe.
READ: Israeli army attacks NAZA film, distances itself from Gaza crimes
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
1 October 2026
Israeli authorities pursue another extension to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s imprisonment
Spread the love
Article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. Source: EuroMed Human Rights Monitor
Israeli authorities are reportedly pursuing another extension of the imprisonment of Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.
Israeli authorities are reportedly pursuing another six-month extension to the imprisonment of Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, taken by Israeli occupation forces from Kamal Adwan Hospital over two years ago, ahead of a hearing announced for Tuesday, April 28. Dr. Abu Safiya has been held in administrative detention – a status that allows Israeli authorities to imprison Palestinians for an undefined amount of time without charge or trial – ever since he was taken captive in December 2024.
Over the past months, family members, health workers, and UN experts have raised the alarm over Dr. Abu Safiya’s condition, warning of torture and deteriorating health. “Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyer has not been allowed to meet him for more than two months, ever since his transfer to Ketziot Prison and despite reports of violence, significant weight loss and medical neglect,” Physicians for Human Rights Israel recently wrote.
Read more: “We are here to kill you”: Released Palestinian prisoner exposes torture and medical neglect in Israeli prisons
Ahead of the hearing date, the pediatrician’s family appealed again for the international community to mobilize and secure Dr. Abu Safiya’s release. “We cannot understand how a man who saves children can be tortured and imprisoned in a place where children are killed,” his son, Ilyas Abu Safiya said. “We cannot understand how a doctor who dedicated his life to protecting and healing them, can be locked away in a place known for injustice, violence and the death of children.”
“The fear for my father’s fate grows inside us every day,” Ilyas Abu Safiya stated, adding that the feeling is shared by families of all Palestinian political prisoners. The fears have only grown worse, various sources document, since the Israeli Knesset adopted death penalty legislation that foresees death by hanging for Palestinians.
Read more: “We will never abandon our prisoners alone in their struggle,” says former Palestinian prisoner
According to information published by Healthcare Workers Watch on April 17, Dr. Abu Safiya is among 83 health workers confirmed to be still imprisoned by Israel. The network documented nearly 446 cases of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other health workers being seized by the occupation since October 7, 2023, of which 323 have apparently been released. Healthcare Workers Watch noted that of the health workers still held, 75 were from Gaza: including 27 senior, 41 mid-level, and 7 junior staff. Sixty among these health workers were kidnapped from inside health facilities.
On average, each of the Gazan health workers “has so far spent 670 days in detention,” Healthcare Workers Watch wrote, with some held for over 880 days. “The currently detained healthcare workers have spent collectively over 152 years in Israeli detention,” the network emphasized.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
Article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Nigel Farage objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
28 April 2026

Tag: Palestinian pediatrician

Detained Gaza hospital director Abu Safiya nominated for European Parliament human rights prize

Israeli authorities pursue another extension to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s imprisonment

Israeli authorities are reportedly pursuing another extension of the imprisonment of Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.

Read more: “We are here to kill you”: Released Palestinian prisoner exposes torture and medical neglect in Israeli prisons

Read more: “We will never abandon our prisoners alone in their struggle,” says former Palestinian prisoner