Israeli Supreme Court rejects appeal for release of Gaza doctor held without charge
June 16, 2026 09:41
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal to release a prominent Palestinian doctor who has been held without charge since he was captured in Gaza in late 2024.
Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital, is among at least 14 doctors from Gaza who have been detained in Israel without charge for more than a year. The court based its decision on “confidential materials” that were not shared with Abu Safiya or his lawyer, Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at the Israeli rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), told Reuters on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to comment. “The message sent by this decision is unmistakable: a medical professional can be deprived of his liberty indefinitely without being charged and without the authorities presenting evidence against him in open court,” Abbas said in a statement.
Abu Safiya’s lawyer and human rights groups say the medic has been denied sufficient food and assaulted in prison.
