Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, appeared with his both hands and feet shackled, for the first time since his arrest by Israeli forces last December.
On Wednesday evening, Israeli media broadcast a video showing Abu Safiya visibly exhausted and weakened as he was escorted by prison guards.
Abu Safiya is regarded as one of the most prominent doctors who continued working under Israeli bombardment to save the wounded Palestinians in northern Gaza.
Israeli forces arrested him in late December after storming Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcing him out at gunpoint after the hospital was destroyed and rendered non-operational.
As the Israeli genocide escalated, Abu Safiya paid a heavy personal price when his son, Ibrahim, was killed during an Israeli army raid on the hospital on Oct. 26.
On Nov. 24, 2024, Abu Safiya was injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the hospital, but he refused to leave and continued treating patients and the wounded.
During his interview with the Israeli journalist, he said: “I am originally a pediatrician and worked as a temporary substitute doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital.”
The Palestinian doctor denied ever seeing or dealing with any Israeli captives in the hospital.
He also denied that Palestinian militants were receiving treatment there, saying that “in the end, I am delivering a humanitarian message, and those receiving treatment at our facility were ordinary civilians.”
Abu Safiya reiterated that he does not know why he was arrested or what charges he is facing, saying “I don’t know why I am here…I don’t know.”
