The head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday called for the immediate release of Hossam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the war-torn Gaza Strip, who was detained by the Israeli army after a major raid on the facility. I took .
The last major health facility in northern Gaza was destroyed and emptied of patients after Friday-Saturday’s attack on Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia, the WHO said.
According to international media reports, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, whose whereabouts are unknown, has reportedly been held at a military base since he was detained by Israel following a raid on the facility last week. which is being doubled as a detention centre.
Hossam Abu Safiya, 51, reportedly held at the Sade Timan base in Israel’s Negev desert, was released over the weekend from the controversial facility that houses detainees, according to former Palestinian prisoners cited by the network. was known for extreme abuse of .
“Two Palestinian prisoners released from the facility this weekend said they saw Abu Safiya in prison, and another former prisoner said he heard Abu Safiya’s name read,” the report said. is”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and officials in Gaza said they had lost contact with Abu Safia after Friday’s raid, which saw Israeli forces set fire to Kamal Adwan and kill dozens of medical staff and patients. Forced out – only partially shut down. Hospital in northern Gaza
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for Abu Safia’s release in a post on X on Monday, saying Gaza’s hospitals had become a “battlefield” and the health system was “under severe threat”.
Tedros said patients in critical condition at Kemal Adwan have been transferred to an Indonesian hospital, which is “out of order by itself”.
“Amid the ongoing chaos in northern Gaza, WHO and partners today delivered basic medical and hygiene supplies, food and water to hospitals in Indonesia and transferred 10 critically ill patients to al-Shifa Hospital,” he said. .
“We urge Israel to ensure that their health care needs and rights are upheld.”
He said seven patients, along with 15 caregivers and health workers, were in a “severely damaged” hospital in Indonesia.