Hamas said to decide to stall for time in talks for Gaza’s future, reject any concessions

Lawyer for Gaza hospital chief and Hamas officer Hussam Abu Safiya warns his life is in immediate danger

The health of Gaza hospital chief Hussam Abu Safiya, a Hamas officer, has recently deteriorated sharply in Israeli detention, to the point of danger to his life, the Physicians for Human Rights group claims.

The assessment is made after a visit made Thursday by Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, to the underground Rakefet interrogation facility in Nitzan Prison, to which the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital was transferred on June 24, the group says in a statement.

It says Odeh claimed in his affidavit that Abu Safiya “bore fresh, severe injuries to his head, around his eyes, and on his ears and neck — to the extent that his lawyer initially struggled to recognize him.”

Abu Safiya “experienced difficulty breathing,” appeared “extremely weak, struggled to sit upright without falling, and on several occasions seemed on the verge of losing consciousness,” and seemed “frightened” and “reluctant to speak freely due to fear of being targeted,” the attorney is said to have written.

“Based on these direct observations, Attorney Odeh concluded that Dr. Abu Safiya’s life is in immediate danger,” Physicians for Human Rights says, alleging that since being transferred to Rakefet, “he has been subjected to daily beatings, resulting in several instances of loss of consciousness, but without receiving appropriate medical treatment.”

He is quoted as saying during the meeting with his lawyer: “This is the last time you will see me… They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end.”

The group urges Abu Safiya’s immediate transfer to a different facility, an urgent visit by authorities to assess his condition, and “an urgent independent medical examination.”

The Israel Prisons Service comments, according to Haaretz, that it “operates in accordance with the law and under constant judicial review,” adding: “Every complaint received is examined and treated in accordance with protocol and in accordance with the law.”

Abu Safiya was arrested by Israeli forces during the war in Gaza in December 2024 and is one of the most prominent Gazan detainees. He is being held in solitary confinement and rights groups have called for his release.

He holds the rank of colonel in the Hamas Military Medical Services, according to the service itself and Palestinian media reports. A photograph from 2016 showing him wearing a Hamas uniform and sitting next to senior members of the terror group emerged after his arrest.

Last month, the Supreme Court rejected Abu Safiya’s appeal against his ongoing detention, ruling that he can continue to be held under Israel’s law for unlawful combatants despite criminal charges not having been brought against him. The text of the decision and its reasoning have yet to be released.