(Statement in English below)
I en militæraksjon 27. desember i 2024 mot Kamal Adwan-sykehuset, der dr Safiya var sykehusdirektør og nyfødtlege, ble han arrestert sammen med andre helsearbeidere og pasienter.
Sykehuset var på det tidspunktet det eneste fungerende sykehuset nord på Gaza. Han hadde fortsatt arbeidet på sykehuset også etter at hans egen sønn ble drept i et flyangrep.
Dr Safiya fikk besøk i undergrunnsfengselet Rakevet av en advokat fra Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) i juli 2026. Ifølge informasjon fra PHRI og Amnesty International er dr Safiya i
livsfare på grunn av alvorlig vekttap, ubehandlede skader, mishandling og isolasjon i fengslet, der han har blitt nektet nødvendig medisinsk behandling.
I strid med internasjonale avtaler har den internasjonale Røde Kors-komitéen (ICRC) ikke fått adgang
til å besøke dr Safiya for å yte uavhengig støtte til fengslede. Dr Safiya har vært en sterk stemme for et utarmet helsevesen og pasienter på Gaza. Helsearbeidere og helsetjenester er ikke legitime mål. FN og menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner har gjentatte ganger krevet at han blir løslatt. Stillhet og passivitet fra den frie del av verden lar slik urett skje. Norges barnelegeforening oppfordrer israelske myndigheter til å sette Hassan Abu Safiya fri, og utfordrer andre barnelegeforeninger til å stille seg bak.
Statement in English
Paediatrician Dr Hussam Abu Safiya has been held in Israeli detention for almost 21 months,
without charge or trial. He was arrested while working at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, where he had remained to care for his patients despite repeated calls to evacuate. Dr Safiya is not receiving the medical care he needs and is at risk of dying in prison, where he is
being held without charge or trial, in violation of international law.
In a military operation on 27 December 2024 against Kamal Adwan Hospital, where Dr Safiya was
hospital director and a neonatologist, he was arrested along with other healthcare workers and
patients. At the time, the hospital was the only hospital functioning in northern Gaza. He had
continued working at the hospital even after his own son was killed in an airstrike.
Dr Safiya was visited at the underground Rakevet prison by a lawyer from Physicians for Human
Rights Israel (PHRI) in July 2026. According to information from PHRI and Amnesty International, Dr Safiya is at risk of dying due to severe weight loss, untreated injuries, ill-treatment and isolation in prison, where he has been denied necessary medical treatment.
In violation of international agreements, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not
been granted access to visit Dr Safiya and provide independent support to detainees. Dr Abu Safiya has been a prominent voice for Gaza’s severely depleted healthcare system and for the patients it serves. Healthcare personnel and medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law. The United Nations and human rights organisations have called for his release or for him to be charged with a recognisable criminal offence and granted a fair trial.
Silence and inaction from the international community risk allowing serious violations to continue. The Norwegian Paediatric Society calls on the Israeli authorities to release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and urges the international paediatric community to join this call.