LONDON: An Israeli rights group petitioned an Israeli court on Wednesday to allow an independent medical examination of detained Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, after prison authorities failed to include the results of a chest X-ray in his official medical file.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said that it filed the petition with the Administrative Court, asking judges to order the Israel Prison Service to allow a specialist acting on the group’s behalf to examine Abu Safiya.
The doctor is reportedly being detained in the underground Rakefet detention wing at Israel’s Nitzan Prison. PHRI said that the specialist should be allowed to reach him wherever he is being held.
The petition came after weeks of reports by PHRI alleging violence and abuse against Abu Safiya. Last month the group, after receiving the doctor’s medical records from the prison service, made a request for a specialist to see him but that was rejected.
According to the medical records, prison staff examined Abu Safiya after his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, requested an urgent evaluation during his visit on July 2. The records note an injury to his left eye and complaints of injuries to his head and chest, including rib pain, and show that he was referred for a chest X-ray.
But PHRI said that the results of the X-ray were missing from the records it received, leaving it unclear what the examination found and what treatments, if any, Abu Safiya had received.
The group said that the omission raised questions about the doctor’s condition and the adequacy of his care.
It said also that the newly disclosed records corroborated the sworn affidavit filed last month by Odeh, who described finding Abu Safiya with severe injuries to his head, face, ears and neck, struggling to breathe, unable to sit upright without collapsing and appearing close to losing consciousness.
Israeli left-wing activists hold placards and chant slogans in Tel Aviv on July 6, 2026, during a rally calling for release of Gaza Doctor Hussan Abu Safiya. (AFP)
During a subsequent visit, Abu Safiya told his lawyers that he had again been subjected to violence by prison guards, including beatings with batons, and that guards had slammed a door on his finger, causing significant bruising.
The petition said that a prisoner’s right to be examined by a physician of their choosing and to obtain an independent medical opinion was recognized under Israeli Supreme Court case law, the Patients’ Rights Law and the prison service’s own regulations.
PHRI asked the court to hold an urgent hearing and order the prison service to allow the examination without delay.
The group is also pursuing a separate case, now pending before the Israeli Supreme Court, in which it seeks the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza, including Abu Safiya, who are being held by Israel without charge or trial.
PHRI said that it had submitted its reply to the state’s response and that both sides were awaiting the court’s decision on how the proceedings would move forward.
Abu Safiya, who is director of Kamal Adwan Hospital and MedGlobal’s lead physician in Gaza, has been held by Israel without charge since Dec. 27, 2024.
His lawyer and rights groups have said that in that time the doctor has suffered repeated beatings, experienced extreme weight loss and been denied adequate medical care.
PHRI, Amnesty International and MedGlobal have all mounted campaigns calling for his immediate release.
