Dr Hussam Abu Safiya now in cell barely big enough to sit in, says son, after UN experts demanded his release in March
The son of a prominent Palestinian doctor who was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2024 and held for more than 500 days without formal charges has spoken of his deep concern for his father’s wellbeing after he was transferred without explanation to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, was detained at work on 27 December 2024. Physicians for Human Rights Israel said last week it had received information indicating that the 53-year-old had been transferred from Ketziot prison to Ramon prison, part of the Ganot prison complex, where he had been put in solitary confinement. PHRI said it had not been told the reasons for the transfer.
The Greek activist was aboard a vessel aimed at breaking the naval blockade of Gaza. Credit: Global Sumud Flotilla
Greek activist and academic Antonis Vradis shared his harrowing experience after being detained by Israeli authorities in international waters alongside fellow Freedom Flotilla activists.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Vradis revealed that he was held for 52 hours aboard an Israeli vessel before being transferred to Israel and ultimately deported. He alleges that he was subjected to brutal torture by Israeli commandos during his detention.
As a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of over fifty vessels aimed at breaking the naval blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and stand in solidarity with Palestinians, AntVradis was aboard the La Sirena when it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Cyprus. The passengers were detained at gunpoint and transferred to the Nahshon, a ship he describes as a “floating prison.”
“I began calculating how many minutes on my knees I would trade for just a few seconds inside the torture container. It felt like we were kneeling for an eternity,” Vradis recalled. “A drone hovered overhead, and a nationalistic song blared continuously from the loudspeakers in an exhausting, repetitive loop.”
Greek flotilla activist alleges torture by Israelis
Antonis Vradis is a professor of human geography at the University of Oslo and a reader at the University of St Andrews. Credit: University of St Andrews
The activist detailed accounts of beatings, electric shocks, and humiliation. He noted that he was held in metal containers with dozens of other activists and deprived of food, water, and medical care. This experience, he said, helped him truly understand the depth of sumud—the steadfastness and resilience that characterizes Palestinians.
Upon arrival at the Israeli port of Ashdod, Vradis claims he faced further violence and was threatened with a knife, all while being denied medical attention.
“During the fingerprinting and photographing process inside a large registration tent, two guards dragged me into a small, isolated area behind a curtain,” he described. “One of them lunged at me with a folding knife. The blade was aimed at my stomach, but I instinctively moved, and it struck my arm instead, leaving a bleeding, four-centimeter gash.”
Vradis’ allegations are now the subject of legal proceedings in Greece. Reflecting on the ordeal, he warned that his experience reflects practices that have reportedly been inflicted on Palestinians for decades. “They put us in a black box stripped of all rights,” he stated, describing the incident as an act of “state piracy.”
An eight-year-old boy was among seven Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday as the IDF continues its constant violations of the US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal. The boy, identified as Jad Salman, was killed when an Israeli airstrike struck a group of Palestinians in the northern Jabalia refugee camp. According to the Quds […]
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