GAZA, February 12, 2024 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Health called for the immediate release of the Dr. Hussam Abu Safia and all the detainees from the medical staff held inside Israeli detention.
It renewed its appeal to all international health and humanitarian organizations and human rights institutions to urgently intervene to release them immediately.
The ministry stressed, in a statement, that Dr. Abu Safia and his colleagues from the medical staff are subjected to repressive and brutal practices inside the occupation prisons, according to the testimony of the lawyer of the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, who was able to visit him yesterday evening, Tuesday, in Ofer prison.
The ministry added, "According to Dr. Abu Safiya's statement to the center's lawyer, he lost about 15 kilograms, suffers from an enlarged heart muscle, and was not presented to a specialist doctor or provided with treatment, despite his repeated requests to the prison administration to do so.
At the beginning of Dr. Abu Safiya's detention and during his transfer from the Gaza Strip, he was forced to take off his clothes, his hands were tied, and he sat on sharp pebbles for about 5 hours.
He was subjected to electric shocks and chest beatings. He also stayed in the occupation's cells for 25 days in Ofer Prison, including 10 days during which he was subjected to almost continuous interrogation, and fainted in the cell due to feeling suffocated, stressing that he is a doctor who only provides treatment to patients and the wounded, in addition to his position as director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The ministry condemned in its statement the repeated attacks on medical staff, which constitute a serious violation of the provisions of international law and established protection rules. For medical staff and mentioned in the Second Protocol attached to the Fourth Geneva Convention, calling on the international community to immediately intervene to release the Palestinian medical staff immediately.
The Ministry of Health indicated that the occupation authorities detained Abu Safia on 12/27/2024, from Kamal Adoun Hospital , along with many workers, doctors and citizens, as the prisoners suffer from extremely difficult detention conditions as a result of the occupation's practices inside the prisons.
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