Increasing voices demanding the release of Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya in Gaza after the ceasefire agreement | News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

There were conflicting reports about whether Israel would release the prominent Gaza medic as part of the truce agreement.

As Israeli and Palestinian prisoners are returned to their families as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the status of many high-profile Palestinian detainees remains uncertain.

Among them is Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, a hospital director in Gaza, who was kidnapped by Israeli forces in December 2024 and remains in detention despite growing calls for his release and his lawyer’s reports of his arrest. They were tortured In Israeli prisons.

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Many supporters of Palestinian rights see Abu Safiya as an embodiment of the resilience of Palestinian doctors, as Israel has systematically targeted the health sector in Gaza for more than two years.

It is unclear whether Abu Safiya will be released as part of the ceasefire agreement, which includes Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinians detained in Gaza and Israel. Block was imprisoned By Israel, most of them without charge or trial.

But as of the end of Monday, the doctor had not been released.

CNN reported over the weekend that Israel would not release Abu Safiya, citing a Hamas source. However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that Abu Safiya was among five additional names added to the list of Palestinians from Gaza who will be released.

Amnesty International said the hospital director was being held without charge or trial under Israeli security law after he was arrested by Israeli forces in Kamal Adwan Hospital In Gaza, where he continued his work as a pediatrician after his son was killed in an Israeli air strike.

“The Israeli authorities did not allow Dr. Abu Safiya to meet with a legal advisor until February 11, 2025,” the group said in a petition demanding his release. “During the last visit by a lawyer to Ofer Military Prison in early July 2025, she reported that Dr. Hossam and other detainees were assaulted and beaten.”

Amnesty International indicated that Abu Safiya also lost significant weight during his arrest.

Palestinian detainees and human rights groups reported being subjected to torture, sexual violence, and more Abusive conditions In Israeli captivity during the two-year war on Gaza. Many of those released on Monday showed signs of abuse and significant weight loss.

A Palestinian detainee told Al Jazeera after his release in Khan Yunis in Gaza: “As we speak, Hussam Abu Safiya is being subjected to severe torture.”

Calls have increased in recent days, after reaching a ceasefire agreement, to demand the release of Abu Safiya.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged US President Donald Trump to push Israel to adhere to the ceasefire agreement.

“We also call on the President to demand that Israel release Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya and all other kidnapped medical professionals.”

expert Francesca Albanese He noted on Friday that the lack of pressure to release civilian prisoners reflects shortcomings in Trump’s ceasefire plan.

“There can be no peace without justice, human rights and dignity for all. Palestinian lives matter,” Albanese wrote on X.