A Doctor in Chains: Dr. Abu Safiya’s Testimony
“He would come back broken and barely conscious”
Israeli interrogators stripped Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya naked and set police dogs on him, leaving deep wounds across his body, three released prisoners have testified. The surgeon’s health is failing. He vomits constantly, cannot keep food down, and receives no medical care.
Abu Safiya, who spent years operating on the wounded in Gaza’s hospitals, faced what one former detainee called “harsh and special treatment” from specialized suppression units. Hamza Abu Amira, a released prisoner, says guards subjected him to constant humiliation and forced him to repeat phrases meant to degrade him.
Abu Amira saw it firsthand. Interrogators “would strip Dr. Hussam of all his clothes and release police dogs to tear at his thin body.” The attacks left wounds and scratches all over him.
He watched the doctor come back from interrogation “with a broken body and nearly unconscious.”
Ahmad Qaddas says “the cells echoed with the doctor’s screams under severe beatings.” Other prisoners were barred from going near his cell or even asking about his condition. What Abu Safiya endured “was not just torture of the body, but an attempt to break his humanity, identity, and dignity,” Qaddas says.
The abuse did not stop at the interrogation room. Prison forces stormed his sleeping area, throwing stun grenades and gas near him even as his condition worsened. Guards shackled his hands and feet for days, denied him food, and would not let him use a toilet. They forced him to insult himself and repeat words meant to humiliate him.
People familiar with his case say the danger to his life is mounting. The torture has not stopped, and neither has the medical neglect.
