Gaza doctor Abu Safia reports ongoing beatings and sleep deprivation in Israeli prison

September 3, 2026 at 04:21 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Jailed Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia told his lawyer that Israeli prison guards continue to beat him and deprive him of sleep at the Rakefet detention facility inside Nitzan Prison. His lawyer, Nasser Odeh, conveyed the testimony on Wednesday through Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Abu Safia has been held without charge since his abduction from Kamal Adwan Hospital on December 27, 2024.

Key Facts

Abu Safia was abducted from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on December 27, 2024.
His lawyer, Nasser Odeh, visited him at the Rakefet detention facility inside Nitzan Prison on August 30.
Guards assault Abu Safia by punching, kicking, and beating him with batons across his body, including sensitive areas.
Abu Safia is deliberately deprived of sleep through loudspeakers and other noise throughout the night.
In July, a United Nations inquiry commission said Abu Safia faced continued and severe abuse.

Latest Testimony

Abu Safia's latest testimony was conveyed by his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, according to a statement on Wednesday by Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). Odeh visited Abu Safia in the Rakefet detention facility inside Nitzan Prison on August 30. Abu Safia said Israeli prison guards continue to beat him, deprive him of sleep, and threaten him against sharing the conditions of his detention with his lawyer. Guards assault the doctor by punching and kicking him and beating him with batons across his body, including sensitive areas, according to the statement from PHRI. Abu Safia is also deliberately deprived of sleep through the use of loudspeakers and other noise throughout the night, PHRI said.

Detention Conditions

Rights groups and his family have long said he shows signs of having been regularly tortured. The doctor has been held in solitary confinement at the underground Rakefet facility, where he has been subjected to daily violence and beatings, his lawyer has said in the past. At one point, his injuries were so severe – with fresh and serious bruises on his head, around his eyes, on his ears, and on his neck – that his lawyer had trouble recognising him, PHRI said in July. In June, footage of Abu Safia appearing via videolink before an Israeli court showed him looking noticeably thinner in his face and around his abdomen.