UN experts urge Israel to free Gaza doctor amid reports of ‘severe torture’ 

United Nations experts are calling on Israel to immediately release Dr Hussam Abu Safia, warning that the Palestinian physician from Gaza has been subjected to “severe torture” and other abuses in Israeli detention.

In a statement on Tuesday, UN special rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Ben Saul said they had received reports that Abu Safia’s health condition “remains dire”.

“He has been systematically denied critical medical examination and treatment, and deprived of essential care to such an extent that his life, health, and wellbeing have been gravely endangered,” they said.

Abu Safia, the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was detained by Israeli forces in December 2024 amid Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

He was arrested after refusing to leave the hospital, which was the last functioning health facility in Gaza’s north, amid Israeli attacks.

Like many other detainees from the Gaza Strip, Israel has held Abu Safia without charge or trial, prompting widespread condemnation.

His arrest and detention are “a reflection of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers and the decimation of the healthcare system in Gaza in order to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians”, Amnesty International said.

In Tuesday’s statement, the UN experts said Abu Safia “has suffered an arbitrary deprivation of liberty, violation of his human rights, including the right of every human being to be free from torture and ill treatment, and his right to health is being eroded”.

They urged the international community, including countries “with influence on Israel”, to take action “to ensure prevention, recourse and justice”.

“Israel must release Dr Abu Safiya and all health care workers, and ensure they have access to appropriate medical care,” they said.

Gaza’s healthcare network has been decimated by Israel’s war on the enclave, with more than 930 attacks on the sector recorded since October 2023, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures from last month.

All 36 hospitals in the Strip have suffered damage due to Israeli attacks, the WHO said, while only half of all hospitals are partially functional.

Palestinian healthcare workers have also been targeted throughout the war.

Humanitarian group Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said at least 1,722 medical workers were killed between October 2023 and October 2025 – an average of more than two killed every day.