Physicians for Human Rights Israel stated on Wednesday that Israeli courts have rejected petitions seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from the Gaza Strip who are being held without charge or trial, including a prominent hospital director whose medical records show significant weight loss and untreated injuries.
The rights group said the Supreme Court refused to release 14 doctors, including hospital directors and specialist physicians, who have been detained for periods exceeding two years in some cases. "The Supreme Court refused to release 14 doctors, including hospital directors and specialist physicians," the group said, noting that the detainees are being held in Israeli prisons without formal charges or trial dates while Gaza's health system faces severe shortages of medical personnel.
The Lod District Court rejected a request to allow Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya — director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza — to undergo an independent medical examination despite "concerning indications in his medical records." Israeli professor Amit Tirosh, a specialist in internal medicine and endocrinology, reviewed Abu Safiya's prison medical file and identified several health indicators that had not received necessary follow-up care, including a weight drop from 90 kilograms in January 2025 to 76 kilograms in May 2025 and a decline in hemoglobin levels.
"On July 5, 2026, Israel Prison Service records documented bruising around his left eye, along with dizziness and pain in his ribs," the organization said, adding that Abu Safiya had previously told his lawyer he was beaten by prison guards while his medical records failed to explain the documented injuries. Tirosh concluded that the information in Abu Safiya's file was inconsistent with the court's finding that he suffered only from high blood pressure, yet the court refused to permit an independent physician to examine him and the Israel Prison Service has withheld updated medical records from the rights group.
The court decision showed that Israeli authorities opposed the independent medical examination based on claims — some presented in closed hearings — regarding Abu Safiya's alleged international contacts and influence over other detainees, according to the organization. The international campaign calling for his release was also cited among the considerations behind the ruling, while Physicians for Human Rights Israel noted that Abu Safiya was held in solitary confinement beginning in June 2026 and currently shares a cell with only one other prisoner without contact with the wider detainee population.
The group stressed that the right to obtain a second medical opinion is guaranteed under Israeli law and Israel Prison Service regulations and should not depend on a detainee's public profile or security allegations against him. Abu Safiya was detained by the Israeli army on Dec. 27, 2024, during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital and is being held without charge under Israel's "Unlawful Combatants Law," which permits prolonged detention based on classified evidence.
Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations report that approximately 9,350 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including roughly 350 children and 90 women. Rights groups say detainees have faced torture, starvation and medical neglect since October 2023, with dozens dying in Israeli custody amid Israel's genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000, most of them women and children.
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