(WASHINGTON) — Nearly 70 Democratic and independent members of Congress are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to work with the Israeli government to help secure the release of a prominent Palestinian doctor who has been held in custody for more than 500 days.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was arrested in December 2024 and has been held by Israeli authorities since. No formal charges have been filed against him, and no trial has been held.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told ABC News earlier this year that Abu Safiya “was apprehended for suspected involvement in terrorist activities, and for holding a rank in the Hamas terror organization.” The doctor, his family and advocates have denied he is a member of Hamas or that he has engaged in terrorist activities. In June, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Abu Safiya for his release.
Human rights groups have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abu Safiya amid reports that he has been denied food and proper medical care and has been subjected to abuse. The Israel Prison Service told ABC News earlier this year that the allegations are “false” and said it “rejects allegations of abuse, starvation, or denial of medical treatment.”
The letter, led by Reps. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., and Raul Ruiz, D-Calif. — and first viewed by ABC News — expressed “urgent concern” over Abu Safiya’s physical well-being.
“Given the imminent threats to Dr. Abu Safiya’s life, we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure he receives the necessary medical care,” the letter reads. “We also urge you to advocate for an end to his seemingly indefinite detention during any upcoming engagements with the Israeli government.”
During the first 14 months of the Israel-Hamas war — which began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in southern Israel — Abu Safiya became one of the most prominent voices in Gaza, speaking out on social media about the strip’s collapsing healthcare system. He documented the struggle to keep his hospital open despite multiple sieges.
“During the war in Gaza, he played a critical role in providing wounded civilians with vital medical care,” the letter reads. “Among his most notable contributions was the construction of a malnutrition unit that treated hundreds of children.”
The letter documents that Abu Safiya continued his work amid his 15-year-old son being killed during the war and suffering an injury to his thigh and back.
Since his arrest, Abu Safiya has been held in five different prisons, according to his attorneys and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), a non-profit human rights organization representing Abu Safiya in his civil case.
Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department at PHRI, told ABC News in June that Abu Safiya has lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) and was denied access to high blood pressure medication for at least two months until PHRI and his private attorney appealed. During one of the most recent visits in May, Abbas said Abu Safiya told his attorneys he was suffering from scabies, a skin disease.
Abu Safiya’s personal attorney said that during a recent visit, the doctor had fresh bruises and was struggling to remain conscious, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International.
“Nothing obviates any government’s obligation to provide basic medical care and due process to detainees,” the letter reads. “We urge you to engage your Israeli counterparts to end Dr. Abu Safiya’s indefinite and dangerously inhumane detention.”
“Every day Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is detained puts his health and safety in jeopardy,” Dexter told ABC News in a statement. “I spent my career caring for patients, and no physician should be punished for answering the call to care for people in crisis. The reports of Dr. Abu Safiya’s mistreatment and declining health require immediate action. The State Department must urgently make contact with the Israeli government to secure his release and reunite him with his family.”
In a statement to ABC News, Ruiz said he was “concerned” by reports that Abu Safiya has not received adequate care “for his deteriorating and life-threatening health conditions. I am calling on Secretary Rubio to work with the Israeli government to release Dr. Abu Safiya so he can get the urgent medical care that he needs.”
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