Israel tortured, abused Gaza hospital director in prison: Palestinian lawyer
ISTANBUL (AA) – The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, was subjected to torture and brutal abuse in Israeli prisons, a Palestinian lawyer has revealed.
In late December, Israeli forces arrested Abu Safiya at gunpoint after raiding the hospital amid destruction that left the facility inoperable.
Images of the courageous doctor facing alone a muzzle of a large Israeli tank in his direction had gone viral, following his social media appeals to spare the hospital despite his personal bereavement of losing his son in the Israeli bombing. Demands for the iconic doctor’s release were shared widely over social media following his arrest.
Ghaid Qassem, a Palestinian lawyer, managed to visit Abu Safiya last Thursday, according to a statement from the Hamas-affiliated Prisoners’ Media Office.
The Gaza doctor has been held for over 70 days in Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, she said.
“From the first moment of his arrest, Abu Safiya was transferred to the notorious Sde Teiman detention center (in the Nevef desert in southern Israel), where he was held in solitary confinement for 14 days,” the lawyer said, quoting the Palestinian doctor.
Regarding his interrogation, Qassem said that “the longest session lasted for 13 consecutive days, with each session ranging from 8 to 10 hours.”
She emphasized that throughout his detention, Abu Safiya was “subjected to continuous and extremely brutal mistreatment, torture, and abuse.”
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