JERUSALEM, June 16 - Israel's highest court on Tuesday rejected a petition to free a prominent Palestinian physician detained since late 2024. The physician, Abu Safiya, who leads the Kamal Adwan hospital, remains in custody in Israel without facing formal charges.
Human rights advocates say Abu Safiya is part of a group of at least 14 medical doctors from Gaza who have been held in Israel for more than a year without being charged. The legal challenge to his detention was reviewed by the Supreme Court, which based its decision on "confidential materials" the court did not make available to the doctor or to his attorney, Naji Abbas.
Naji Abbas, who directs the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, told Reuters that neither Abu Safiya nor his lawyer had access to the evidence the court cited. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to provide comment on the matter.
"The message sent by this decision is unmistakable: a medical professional can be deprived of his liberty indefinitely without being charged and without the authorities presenting evidence against him in open court," Abbas said in a statement.
Abu Safiya's legal representative and human rights organisations have also alleged that the detained doctor has been denied adequate food and has been assaulted while in custody. Israel's prison service has rejected those allegations.
The doctor appeared via video link at a Supreme Court hearing held in Jerusalem last Wednesday; observers noted that he appeared noticeably thinner. Physicians for Human Rights Israel added that Abu Safiya had been placed in solitary confinement for the 13 days preceding that hearing.
Separately, the Israeli military has accused Abu Safiya of membership in the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The military has not produced publicly available evidence to substantiate that claim. Both Gaza's health ministry and Hamas have rejected the allegation.
Earlier, in 2023, Abu Safiya was cited among the hospital doctors who refused to abandon dozens of newborn infants they were treating after an order from the Israeli military to leave. That episode is part of the record cited by advocates and supporters in describing the physician's actions prior to his capture.
The Supreme Court's decision leaves Abu Safiya in detention while the legal and human rights debate continues over the use of confidential material in court rulings and the prolonged detention of medical professionals without formal charges.