"In his last minutes of freedom before Israel Defense Forces arrested him, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, clad in a medic's white coat, walked alone toward two Israeli tanks. His captors awaited him amid the rubble of Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital. An artist swiftly created a dramatic poster showing Dr. Safiya striding through the ruins of the hospital he directed. The artist, David Solnit, recently updated the poster's caption."
"Dr. Safiya had already endured agonizing losses at the Kamal Adwan hospital. In late October 2024, an Israeli drone attack killed his son, also a doctor. In a November 2024 attack on the hospital, Dr. Safiya was wounded by shrapnel, but continued working, insisting he would not close the hospital. He witnessed his colleagues being humiliated, beaten, and marched off to prison. By December 27, 2024, when Dr. Safiya's ordeal as a prisoner began, most hospitals in Gaza were nonfunctional."
"On August 28, 2025, Dr. Safiya's lawyer, Ghaid Ghanem Qassem, visited him in the Ofer Prison. She reports he has lost one-third of his body weight. While imprisoned in in the Sde Teiman military Detention Center, located in an Israeli military base in the Negev desert, he showed signs of torture. Subjected to beating with electric shocks and batons, he sustained blows which may also cause him to lose his right eye."
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, walked toward Israeli tanks before his arrest and became the subject of a poster by artist David Solnit. In late October 2024 an Israeli drone attack killed his son; in November 2024 he was wounded by shrapnel yet continued treating patients. By December 27, 2024 most Gaza hospitals were nonfunctional and Dr. Safiya was detained. On August 28, 2025 his lawyer reported one-third body weight loss and signs of torture after detention at Sde Teiman; beatings with electric shocks and batons may have endangered his right eye. He vowed to continue providing healthcare.
Read at Truthout
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