Dr Hussam Abu Safiya - Part 3
EP3-S1 · Prison corridor
47 days with no lawyer. Stripped. Shackled. Made to sit on sharp gravel for five hours.
From December 28 2024 to February 11 2025, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya was held incommunicado. His whereabouts were unknown. When his lawyer finally reached him, he described what had been done to him. All documented by Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights. All on the public record.
EP3-S2 · Sharp gravel floor
Sde Teiman military detention · December 28 2024 · His own testimony02 / 07
Forcibly stripped. Hands shackled. Made to sit on sharp gravel for five hours.
After being taken from Kamal Adwan on December 27 2024, Abu Safiya was transferred to Sde Teiman military detention camp.
His lawyer's statement published by Al-Mezan Center documented: forcibly stripped, hands tightly shackled, made to sit on sharp gravel for approximately five hours.
He was also subjected to beatings with batons and electric shock sticks, and repeated blows to the chest. All documented from his own testimony to his lawyer on February 11 2025.
Source: Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights February 14 2025 · Electronic Intifada February 2025 · Front Line Defenders case file
EP3-S3 · Solitary confinement cell
Ofer Prison · Solitary confinement · 25 days · 10 days interrogation03 / 07
Transferred to Ofer Prison. 25 days solitary. 10 days of interrogation. No lawyer permitted for 47 days.
After Sde Teiman, Abu Safiya was transferred to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank where he was held in solitary confinement for 25 days, described by Al-Mezan as "a period so prolonged as to constitute a form of torture in itself."
He endured nearly continuous interrogation for 10 consecutive days, with sessions ranging from 8 to 10 hours each.
Israeli authorities denied his detention when Physicians for Human Rights Israel enquired on January 2 2025. His first lawyer visit came on February 11 2025, after 47 days of incommunicado detention.
Source: Al-Mezan Center February 14 2025 · MENA Rights Group case file · Front Line Defenders February 2025
EP3-S4 · Israeli state document
February 12 2025 · Unlawful Combatants Law · Al-Mezan Center04 / 07
When 47 days of interrogation produced no evidence, they changed the law they were using to hold him.
On February 12 2025, the Commander of the Southern Command of the Israeli army issued an order to detain Abu Safiya under the Unlawful Combatants Law.
Al-Mezan stated: "When they could not build a case, they reverted to classifying him as an unlawful combatant." The law enables indefinite detention without charges, stripping detainees of any meaningful judicial review.
The category of "unlawful combatant" does not exist under international humanitarian law. The scheduled criminal hearing on February 13 was cancelled. He was reclassified instead.
Source: Al-Mezan Center February 15 2025 · Palestine Chronicle February 15 2025 · MENA Rights Group case file
EP3-S5 · Lawyer at empty visitation window
February 11 2025 · First lawyer visit · 47 days after arrest05 / 07
Four ribs broken. Eyeglasses confiscated. No medical care. His lawyer documented everything.
On February 11 2025, a lawyer from Al-Mezan met Abu Safiya in Ofer Prison for the first time since his arrest 47 days earlier.
MENA Rights Group documented: four ribs broken, severe neck and back pain from an assault during transfer between facilities, eyeglasses confiscated causing vision problems, denied necessary medication for his chronic illness.
His lawyer Nasser Odeh confirmed he had not received any medical treatment. Physicians for Human Rights Israel called for his release in April 2025, stating he had been denied adequate medical care and food, and subjected to physical abuse.
Source: Al-Mezan Center February 11 2025 · MENA Rights Group case file · Physicians for Human Rights Israel April 2025
EP3-S6 · Empty chair beside hospital bed
During his detention · His mother died · He was not informed06 / 07
His mother died while he was in solitary confinement. He was not told. He could not say goodbye.
During Abu Safiya's detention, his mother died. He was held in solitary confinement and denied family contact. He was not informed of her death and could not attend her funeral.
Solitary confinement was used again as a documented punitive measure after he filed an appeal challenging his detention. His lawyer described it as a direct punitive response to the legal challenge.
His son Elyas told ABC News: "In one moment, everything changed. The imprisonment of my father destroyed our lives."
Source: ABC News June 2026, Elyas Abu Safiya on record · Palestine Chronicle June 2026 · 972 Magazine June 2026
EP3-S7 · Prison door numbered 530
The question. Not a claim.07 / 07
47 days incommunicado. Gravel. Electric shocks. Four ribs broken. No evidence found. The law changed. His mother died. 530 days. No charges. What is this?
Next episode: June 10 2026. He appeared before Israel's Supreme Court via video link. His family saw him for the first time in 16 months. What they saw on that screen. What the court decided.
Some stories are buried on purpose. We dig.
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