JERUSALEM / Anadolu

A group of Israeli leftist activists demonstrated on Monday demanding the release of Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained in Israeli prisons since 2024.

The vigil was organized outside a U.S. Embassy building in West Jerusalem, called by the leftist Israeli organization 'Free Jerusalem' which opposes the occupation.

The Israeli army arrested Abu Safiya on December 27, 2024, during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, which he managed and which was one of the main health facilities in northern Gaza.

His arrest came after the destruction of the hospital and the forced evacuation of patients and medical staff, amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Participants held banners calling for the release of Abu Safiya, an end to the genocidal war on Gaza and the torture of Palestinian prisoners, and others urging the United States to stop arming Israel.

They also chanted slogans demanding the release of the Palestinian doctor, accompanied by drumbeats.

Participant Louis Frenkenthaler told Anadolu that Abu Safiya's arrest is 'illegal and that he is being tortured, starved, and faces the risk of death.'

He added: 'Our message is to stop torture, stop genocide, and stop the war against the Palestinian people immediately.'

In February 2025, the Israeli army issued an order to detain Abu Safiya under the so-called 'Unlawful Combatant Law,' prompting his lawyer Nasser Odeh to file an appeal with the Supreme Court against his continued detention.

In his follow-up on the case, Odeh said that during a legal visit, Abu Safiya appeared with his hands and feet bound and under tight supervision, suffering from lack of food and water, medical neglect, as well as back and neck pain due to being beaten when transferred to Negev Prison.

Israeli authorities did not comment on the allegations of torture and his detention conditions.

In contrast to the limited vigil, official Israeli bodies have long defended the continued detention of Abu Safiya. On July 10, 2026, the Tel Aviv mission to the UN in Geneva adopted allegations of his ties to the Hamas movement.

The Israeli embassy in Washington repeated similar allegations on the 12th of the same month, previously adopted by Israel's UN representative Danny Danon, without filing a public indictment against Abu Safiya.

Israel holds about 9,500 Palestinians, including children and women, amid Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports of starvation, torture, and medical neglect, leading to the deaths of dozens of them.