Hussam Abu Safiya: The doctor who says 'No' to Israel
A Palestinian paediatrician has become a symbol of resistance in the face of Israel's war on Gaza, he was arrested today, wounded in a drone strike and his son was killed in his hospital.
This is not the first time that Safiyeh has been a victim of Israel's deadly carnage in Gaza. / Photo: X
Gaza health officials said that Israeli forces detained the director of a hospital in the north, which the World Health Organization said was put out of service by an Israeli raid.
"The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hussam Abu Safiya," the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
This is not the first time that Safiya has been a victim of Israel's deadly carnage in Gaza.
In December last year, Israel bombed Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia for the first time in its relentless war on Gaza, causing significant damage to the hospital.
The first detention
On October 25, the Israeli army shelled the third floor of the hospital, and shut off the hospital's medical oxygen generator, killing two infants in the intensive care unit.
After that Israeli troops invaded the hospital, ordering all patients to gather in the central courtyard. Hundreds of people were arrested including nearly the entire hospital staff.
But Safiya remained defiant to Israeli diktats and refused to evacuate patients. He was briefly held during the raid before returning to his duty, the +972 magazine reported.
“The Israeli army detained me and demanded that I evacuate the hospital,” Abu Safiya told The Electronic Intifada.
“I refused and assured them that there were only patients inside. But they arrested 57 staff members, leaving us with a severe shortage of doctors, especially surgeons. Now, only I and one other paediatrician remain,” he said after the assault.
The price of defiance
However, this defiance did not go well with the Israeli army who struck the Hospital entrance with a drone.
The strike killed Abu Safiya's 15-year-old son, who along with his family like hundreds of other displaced Palestinians was sheltering in the hospital premises.
“I refused to leave the hospital and sacrifice my patients, so the army punished me by killing my son,” Hussam Abu Safiya shared with journalists contacting him about the situation at his hospital.
On October 26 the hospital director and paediatrician led funeral prayers for his son in the hospital courtyard.
'This will not stop us'
On the night of 23 November, the hospital faced another direct attack.
A drone strike targeted Abu Safiya’s office moments after he exited the operating room, leaving him seriously wounded.
Speaking from his hospital bed in a Whatsapp press statement on 24 November, Abu Safiya said:
"This will not stop us. I was injured at my workplace, and that is an honour. My blood is no more precious than that of my colleagues or the people we serve. I will return to my patients as soon as I recover."
In December the Palestine Mental Health Networks and Doctors Against Genocide in response to continuous communications sent by Hussam Abu Safiya about the deteriorating state of hospitals in Gaza due to Israeli aggression pleaded with the international community not to remain silent as Gaza’s healthcare system is systematically destroyed, the Mondoweiss reported.
On December 23, the NBC News reported quoting Abu Safiya:
“Bullets had penetrated the intensive care unit, the maternity department and the specialized surgery department, all types of weapons, including sniper fire, tank shells and quadcopters” have been used to target the hospital’s nursery, maternity ward and various other departments."
Abu Safiya told Reuters in a text message that shutting down the hospital would be “next to impossible.”
The charred hospital
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had launched an operation in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Several intensive care patients have been confirmed dead after the Israeli army set fire to multiple sections of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza while forcibly evacuating the facility.
Israeli forces threatened hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya with arrest if the facility was not completely evacuated.
Despite the threats, Abu Safiya and several members of the medical staff refused to comply with the evacuation orders.
Several intensive care patients were dead after the Israeli army cut off their oxygen supply.
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