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Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is not only the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza; he is one of the medical voices that brought the suffering of patients and the wounded to the rest of the world. He has dedicated his own life to saving the lives of others and caring for children and patients. He refused to leave Gaza even amid Israeli attacks, choosing instead to remain beside his patients and medical team.

But now Abu Safiya has been imprisoned by Israeli authorities since his arrest on December 27, 2024. International organizations, including Amnesty International, have called for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s immediate release, while Physicians for Human Rights Israel has repeatedly raised alarm over his detention conditions and warned that his life is in imminent danger.

I first met Abu Safiya at the beginning of February 2024 when I visited Kamal Adwan Hospital. I entered the pediatric intensive care unit, where several premature babies were receiving treatment. Their health conditions were critical, and they were suffering from malnutrition.

I saw Abu Safiya moving between the hospital departments. He appeared anxious and exhausted as he asked one of the nurses to search for formula specifically needed for premature infants.

I asked him whether this milk was available in the markets. He told me that throughout northern Gaza, it was unavailable, and if found, it was extremely difficult to obtain and could cost more than 280 Israeli shekels (around 80 U.S. dollars at the time), a price beyond the ability of families and the Ministry of Health to afford under the circumstances.

Israel Moves Gaza Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya to Solitary Confinement

At that time, I told him that a friend abroad — with whom I had worked before the war in writing, translation, and website management — wanted to provide $1,000 in aid, and he asked me to find those who needed it most.

Although all of northern Gaza was facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance, I decided to direct this support to the children suffering inside Kamal Adwan Hospital.

When I handed the money to Abu Safiya, he asked a nurse, Ahmed Al-Kahlout, to help distribute it. Al-Kahlout refused to take the money, and instead said he would accompany me personally to distribute it among the families most in need. He insisted that the parents should see who was providing the assistance and express their gratitude, and added that he would guide me to the families who needed it most.

Al-Kahlout spoke about the suffering of children due to malnutrition. “Because of the famine and the lack of........

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