The director general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health has issued a stark and urgent call for immediate action to ‘save’ the life of detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia before it is ‘too late’. This call comes as Dr. Muneer al-Boursh posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday, highlighting serious concerns mounting over his well-being and the potential for a catastrophic health crisis.
Abu Safia has been held by Israel since 2024 and ‘serious concerns are mounting’ over his life and health, according to Dr. al-Boursh. He was the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, which served as one of the last functioning medical facilities in northern Gaza, through an 85-day siege before Israeli forces raided it and detained him on December 27, 2024. He has been held without charge under Israel’s unlawful combatant law, which permits indefinitely renewable detention; Israel’s supreme court rejected an appeal for his release in June. His lawyer, who visited him last month, reported new signs of beatings and torture. Rights groups, including Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, have warned that his life is in imminent danger.
The ministry chief urged ‘freedom’ for Abu Safia and all healthcare workers detained by Israel. He also called on the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the UN, and medical and human rights groups to take immediate action. Al Jazeera correspondents reported a sharp deterioration throughout Gaza’s health sector, nearly 10 months into a ‘ceasefire’ that Israel continues to breach on a near-daily basis.
On Saturday, three Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire north of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, reported by Palestinian news agency Wafa. Israeli forces had also carried out extensive demolition operations south of the city since this morning, while military vehicles continued firing east of Salah al-Din Street near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the centre of the enclave.
Al Jazeera’s Noor Khaled reported from Gaza City, stating that ‘The Israeli occupation has not adhered to the terms of the ceasefire, nor even to the protocol attached to this ceasefire,’ and that the Israeli-controlled ‘yellow’ zones now cover more than 70 percent of the Strip, leaving Palestinians confined to less than 30 percent – most of it destroyed. Crossings remain largely closed, and approximately 20,000 patients were waiting to be evacuated for treatment abroad, with only approximately 250 trucks entering.
From Deir al-Balah, correspondent Ashraf Abu Amra said Nasser Hospital had reported ‘three to four patients dying daily due to the shortage of medicines and medical supplies.’ Last week, Israeli forces destroyed a medical supply warehouse serving nearly half a million people in a direct strike near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territories, cautioned that Gaza’s health system was among the hardest hit. He warned that malnutrition, collapsing shelter, and lack of safe drinking water could not be tackled while the entry of dual-use materials remained blocked by Israel. Gaza’s Health Ministry said hospitals received two patients who had died of their wounds and six injured in the past 24 hours. The latest casualties increased the death toll since last October’s ‘ceasefire’ to 1,257 and 4,131 wounded. In total, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Source: Al Jazeera
