Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza, Palestine, remains in solitary confinement after being detained for one and a half years. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is outraged by the treatment of healthcare workers, most of whom are being detained in dire conditions, without justification or cause. We join global calls for their immediate release. Dr Abu Safiya’s placement into solitary confinement and reported torture follows an appalling pattern of the Israeli authorities detaining and targeting medical staff across Palestine.

His case is not isolated. According to the Healthcare Workers Watch, 95 Palestinian healthcare workers remain detained by Israeli authorities since October 2023. Since then, over 1,700 health staff have been killed, including 15 MSF colleagues.

MSF orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mohammed Obeid has been detained in Israel for more than 600 days, in difficult conditions, and without any contact with his family. He was arrested on 26 October 2024 by Israeli forces while on duty at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.  We continue to call for his immediate and unconditional release.

The practice of arbitrarily detaining, torturing, and abusing Palestinian medical staff in Israel is unacceptable. For too long, too many world leaders have failed to condemn Israel’s conduct in Palestine. Silence has become complicity.

We call for the release of all arbitrarily detained medical personnel immediately. Pending their release, they must be granted access to adequate medical care and dignified detention conditions.