Israeli court refuses to release 14 Gaza doctors held without charge or trial

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - JERUSALEM — Israeli courts have rejected petitions seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from the Gaza Strip who are being held without charge or trial, Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday, an Israeli rights group.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel said the Supreme Court rejected petitions concerning the doctors — including hospital directors and specialists — who are held under the “unlawful combatants law”.

Separately, the Lod District Court rejected a request for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, to receive an independent medical examination and a second medical opinion despite “alarming indications in his medical records.”

Abu Safiya had become the face of health workers struggling to treat patients throughout the war in Gaza before his detention. He is being held indefinitely, along with thousands of other Palestinian civilians, in prisons that Israeli rights groups say have become torture camps.

“The 14 doctors are being held in Israeli prisons without being charged or brought to trial,” the organization said.

Some have been detained for more than two years while Gaza’s health system is suffering from an acute shortage of medical personnel, it added.

Gaza’s health sector has been largely devastated during Israel’s genocide in the enclave since October 2023, while around 90% of its overall infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Abu Safiya was detained at work on 27 December 2024 during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital and later held in solitary confinement at Rakefet, a notorious underground prison.

During a visit by a lawyer from Physicians for Human Rights Israel in the summer, the doctor told of harsh conditions, untreated medical problems and severe food shortages. Witnesses said he had become almost unrecognisable.

Nearly 700 days after his arrest, Israeli authorities have yet to bring any formal charges against Abu Safiya.

He was classified as an “unlawful combatant” along with more than 375 medical workers – a designation Israel has used to justify prolonged detention without trial.

Regarding Abu Safiya, the group said Israeli professor Amit Tirosh, a specialist in internal medicine and endocrinology, prepared a medical opinion after reviewing the Palestinian doctor’s file held by the Israel Prison Service.

Tirosh identified several concerning health indicators that had not received the necessary follow-up examinations and medical care, according to the organization.

The records showed that Abu Safiya’s weight dropped from 90 kilograms (198 pounds) in January 2025 to 76 kilograms (168 pounds) in May of the same year.

Tirosh also identified a decline in Abu Safiya’s hemoglobin level, a lack of necessary tests to determine the cause of chest pain he had reported and a delay in diagnosing scabies, the group said.

“On July 5, 2026, Israel Prison Service records documented bruising around his left eye, along with dizziness and pain in his ribs,” the organization added.

The group said Abu Safiya had previously told his lawyer that he was beaten by prison guards, while his medical records did not explain the cause of the documented injuries.

Tirosh also concluded that the information in Abu Safiya’s medical file was inconsistent with the court’s finding that he suffered from no health problems other than high blood pressure, stressing the need for further medical examinations.

Despite that, the court refused to allow him to be examined by an independent physician, the group said.

Tirosh has not been permitted to examine Abu Safiya in person, while the Israel Prison Service has refused to provide Physicians for Human Rights Israel with his updated medical records, preventing the group from assessing his current condition.

According to the organization, the court decision showed that Israeli authorities opposed an independent medical examination on the basis of claims — some presented in closed hearings — concerning Abu Safiya’s international contacts and his alleged influence over other detainees.

The international campaign calling for his release was also cited among the considerations behind the decision, the group said.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel rejected those arguments as grounds for denying Abu Safiya an independent medical opinion.

It said he was held in solitary confinement for a period beginning in June 2026 and is currently detained 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.

Around 9,350 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including about 350 children and 90 women, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations.

Rights groups say detainees have faced torture, starvation and medical neglect, with dozens dying in Israeli custody.

Abuses against Palestinian detainees have intensified since October 2023, 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.