AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel has reportedly refused to release two prominent Palestinian doctors, including pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, as part of its ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.
A Hamas official told CNN on Friday that “the occupation refused to release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya,” who was abducted during an Israeli raid that shut down the last major operational hospital in northern Gaza in December 2024. Abu Safiya had served as director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The official added that Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza’s field hospitals, was also excluded from the deal.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday, stipulates that Hamas will release 48 Israeli captives from Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. In return, Israel is expected to free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7, 2023.
CNN reported that Israel deliberately excluded both Dr. Abu Safiya and Dr. al-Hams from the exchange, despite their high-profile status.
According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), Dr. Abu Safiya has endured starvation, physical abuse, and invasive searches while in detention. He has not been charged, interrogated, or brought before a judge since March.
PHRI condemned his continued detention, calling it part of a broader pattern of targeting medical professionals and health institutions in Gaza.
Last month, Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Ghaid Qasem, told Palestinian media that her client was “abandoned to disease and hunger” in Israel’s Sde Teiman detention center, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Qasem warned that Abu Safiya’s health was deteriorating rapidly due to neglect. He suffers from chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and high blood pressure, yet has not been examined by a cardiologist since his arrest.
Dr. al-Hams’s whereabouts remain unknown since his abduction by an undercover Israeli unit in southern Gaza in July, according to Palestinian officials.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has demanded his immediate release, calling his detention “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Both doctors are among hundreds of medical personnel detained during Israel’s two-year military campaign in Gaza, which has crippled the territory’s healthcare system and rendered most hospitals non-functional.
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