A recent United Nations investigation expressed worry over allegations of mistreatment against a well-known Palestinian physician captured by the Israeli military in Gaza in December 2024 and currently detained in Israel, urging his prompt release. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, called for the immediate release of Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Advocacy groups and Abu Safiya’s legal representative have voiced concerns about his precarious health condition and his detention without formal charges, as indicated by Physicians for Human Rights Israel, an Israeli human rights organization.
According to the UN inquiry, the behavior of Israeli Prison Service officers towards Palestinian detainees raises serious apprehensions of breaching international laws that may constitute international violations. The inquiry stated that Dr. Abu Safiya’s health issues are a direct consequence of these actions. In response, an Israel Prison Service spokesperson dismissed the allegations as false and unfounded. The spokesperson, without mentioning Abu Safiya by name, refuted claims of mistreatment against him and other medical practitioners in custody.
Abu Safiya’s legal counsel recently raised concerns about his deteriorating health and daily abuse. During a Supreme Court session in Jerusalem in June, Abu Safiya appeared visibly thinner, prompting further alarm. The UN inquiry highlighted the reported mistreatment of Abu Safiya by Israeli authorities as part of a broader pattern of violations identified in previous reports.
In a separate development, a different UN human rights body deemed Israel’s detention of Abu Safiya as arbitrary and demanded his immediate release. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Israel’s actions to be in violation of various articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
On the same day, Israeli airstrikes and gunfire resulted in the deaths of at least nine Palestinians, including two young children aged 10 and 6, in the Gaza Strip. Health officials reported that an Israeli airstrike near a school in Gaza City claimed one life, with twelve individuals sustaining injuries in the incidents. Another Israeli airstrike in the Mawasi area in Khan Younis killed at least four individuals, including a 10-year-old child, at a tent designated for displaced persons.
Later, Palestinian health authorities confirmed the death of a six-year-old boy due to Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Further strikes by the Israeli military in other parts of Gaza City resulted in three fatalities and multiple injuries, bringing the day’s death toll to at least nine individuals.
The Israeli military did not promptly comment on these incidents. Since a ceasefire mediated by the U.S. with Hamas in October 2023, Israel has conducted multiple strikes in Gaza, citing the targeting of militants threatening its forces or involved in prior attacks. Hamas has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire, a sentiment echoed by Nikolay Mladenov, the U.S.-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza. Both sides have alleged violations of the agreement. Since the ceasefire, over 1,070 Palestinians, including civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have lost their lives in Gaza, according to official reports from both parties. Hamas has not disclosed its fighter casualties.