Handcuffed Appearance of Kamal Adwan Hospital Director Before Israel’s Supreme Court Draws Widespread Rights Concerns

GAZA, June 10, 2026 (JNA Press) – Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, appeared handcuffed during a hearing held by Israel’s Supreme Court via video link, marking his first public appearance in more than a year and prompting widespread reactions among Palestinian medical and human rights circles.

Abu Safiya is regarded as one of the most prominent physicians who continued carrying out his humanitarian mission in northern Gaza’s hospitals throughout the war, during a period marked by widespread destruction, the rapid collapse of the healthcare system, severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies, and a growing number of wounded and sick civilians.

During one of the most difficult periods in Gaza’s modern history, Abu Safiya continued working alongside medical teams that remained committed to treating civilians despite the daily dangers and extraordinary pressures resulting from Israeli military operations and the worsening humanitarian and health crisis across the territory.

Images circulated from the hearing showed the Palestinian doctor inside his place of detention while participating remotely in the court proceedings, prompting calls from human rights organizations and medical associations for transparency regarding his detention conditions and for guarantees of his legal and humanitarian rights.

Rights advocates say his first public appearance in more than a year has once again drawn attention to the fate of healthcare workers who continued performing their humanitarian duties throughout the war, while renewing calls for legal protections for medical personnel and humanitarian workers in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Abu Safiya holds a special place among Palestinians as one of the most recognizable medical figures who continued serving in hospitals across northern Gaza during an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. His name became closely associated with efforts to save the wounded and maintain essential healthcare services under exceptionally difficult circumstances.

His appearance before the court has also brought renewed attention to the issue of detained Palestinian medical personnel, amid growing calls from human rights organizations for international bodies to monitor detainees' conditions and ensure that their rights are protected under international law.