As Israeli and Palestinian captives return to their families as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the status of many prominent Palestinian detainees remains uncertain.
Among them is Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia, a hospital director in Gaza who was abducted by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has stayed in detention despite growing calls for his release and reports by his lawyer that he has been tortured in Israeli prison.
Many Palestinian rights supporters see Abu Safia as the embodiment of the resilience of Palestinian medics, as Israel systemically targeted Gaza’s health sector for more than two years.
It is unclear whether Abu Safia will be released as part of the ceasefire deal, which includes both Israelis held captive by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinians swept up in Gaza and imprisoned en masse by Israel, most without charge or trial.
But as of the end of Monday, the doctor has not been freed.
CNN reported over the weekend that Israel would not release Abu Safia, citing a source from Hamas. However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that Abu Safia was among five extra names added to the list of Palestinians from Gaza to be released.
The human rights watchdog Amnesty International says that the hospital director has been held without charge or trial under an Israeli security law after being arrested by Israeli forces at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, where he continued to work as a paediatrician after his son was killed in an Israeli air strike.
“Not until 11 February 2025 did Israeli authorities allow Dr Abu Safiya to meet with a legal counsel,” the group said in a petition calling for his release. “In the latest visit by a lawyer to Ofer military prison in early July 2025, she reported that Dr Hussam and other detainees were subjected to assault and beatings.”
Amnesty International noted that Abu Safia had also lost significant weight during his detention.
Palestinian detainees and rights groups have reported torture, sexual violence and other abusive conditions in Israeli captivity during the two-year war on Gaza. Many of those released on Monday show signs of abuse and significant weight loss.
“As we speak, Husam Abu Safiya is subjected to severe torture,” a Palestinian detainee told Al Jazeera upon his release in Khan Younis in Gaza.
Calls have grown in recent days, after the ceasefire deal was finalised, for Abu Safia’s release.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has urged United States President Donald Trump to push Israel to abide by the ceasefire deal.
“We also call on the President to demand that Israel release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and all other kidnapped medical professionals.”
UN expert Francesca Albanese suggested on Friday that the lack of pressure to release civilian captives reflects the shortcomings of the ceasefire plan, which was put forward by Trump.
“There cannot be peace without justice, human rights and dignity of ALL. Palestinian lives matter,” Albanese wrote on X.
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