LONDON: Two Israeli courts have rejected petitions seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors detained without charge or trial and an independent medical examination for a Gaza hospital director, Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court dismissed the group’s petition to release the doctors, including hospital directors and specialists, saying they found no grounds to intervene in the military chief of staff’s decision to keep them in detention. In a separate ruling last month, the Lod District Court denied a request for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, to undergo an independent medical examination and obtain a second opinion. The rights group argued that the doctors’ detention, in some cases for more than two years, violated their rights and compounded a severe shortage of medical professionals in Gaza. It urged the military chief to revoke their detention orders under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law, citing the ceasefire and Gaza’s urgent medical needs. The state maintained that the cases had been reviewed in light of changing circumstances and the shortage of doctors, but that no exceptional grounds justified their release. In dismissing the petition, the Supreme Court also cited the state’s assurances that Abu Safiya, detained since December 2024, was receiving regular medical care and that his health was not at risk. It referred to the district court’s rejection of his request for an independent examination. But an assessment of his prison medical records by Dr. Amit Tirosh, an independent Israeli specialist in internal medicine and endocrinology, challenged the account of his health presented in court, according to PHRI’s statement. Tirosh, who had been expected to examine Abu Safiya if the district court approved the request, reviewed records obtained by PHRI from the Israel Prison Service. He identified several findings that he said had not been adequately investigated. Those included a drop in Abu Safiya’s weight from 90 kg in January 2025 to 76 kg that May, insufficient investigation of chest pain and a roughly monthlong delay in diagnosing scabies despite repeated requests for treatment. Tirosh also noted a decline in Abu Safiya’s hemoglobin level between February and July 2026. Given documented injuries and reports of loss of consciousness, he said, the finding warranted further investigation to rule out potentially serious conditions. He also identified gaps in the records, including examination reports that did not name the medical personnel involved. The records document injuries after Abu Safiya’s transfer to the Rakefet detention facility in June 2026. A July 5 examination recorded bruising around his left eye, dizziness and rib pain. Around the same time, Abu Safiya told his lawyers that prison guards had punched, kicked and beaten him with batons, and that he was experiencing breathing difficulties and vision problems. His lawyer detailed the allegations in a sworn affidavit. Tirosh said the medical records did not explain how the injuries occurred, reinforcing the need for an independent examination. Responding to the district court’s conclusion that Abu Safiya had no medical problems other than high blood pressure, Tirosh wrote: “Put simply, the account presented in the court ruling is inconsistent with the data.” His assessment was limited to records extending through July 2026, and he was not permitted to examine Abu Safiya in person. The rights group said it had no current information about the doctor’s health because the Prison Service had refused to provide updated records. The district court ruling also outlined allegations Israeli authorities presented in opposing the examination, including intelligence claims submitted in proceedings from which Abu Safiya and his lawyers were excluded. Authorities alleged that he had manipulated his medical condition, established organizations inside prison, influenced other prisoners and maintained international connections. The international campaign for his release was also cited in material presented to the court. The rights group said the prison medical records and Tirosh’s assessment challenged the allegation that Abu Safiya had manipulated his condition. It also questioned how he could have established organizations or influenced other inmates, saying he had been held in isolation for a period beginning in June 2026 and was now detained with only one other prisoner, without access to other inmates. The ruling did not identify the organizations he allegedly established or explain how he could have done so under those conditions. The group argued that an independent medical examination should not be treated as an ordinary prison visit or denied on the basis of a detainee’s public profile or alleged influence. It said the right to a second medical opinion was protected by Israel’s Patients’ Rights Law and Prison Service regulations and did not depend on proof of a life-threatening condition. “Fourteen doctors, including hospital directors and specialists in essential medical fields, remain imprisoned without charge or trial at a time when Gaza’s healthcare system desperately needs them,” said Naji Abbas of PHRI. In Abu Safiya’s case, Abbas said, reliance on the international campaign for his release raised concerns that “non-medical considerations are influencing the decision to deny him a second medical opinion.”