Dr Hussam Abu Safiya - Part 4
EP4-S1 · Connection paused screen · empty chair
June 10 2026. A screen in a courtroom. His family saw him for the first time in 16 months.
530 days without charge. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya appeared via video link before the Israeli Supreme Court on June 10 2026. His family saw his face for the first time since February 2025. They described marks of torture. The court rejected his appeal on June 16. He remains in solitary confinement in Nafha Prison. No charges. No indictment.
EP4-S2 · Hands holding phone with blurred detained figure
June 10 2026 · Supreme Court video link · First sighting since February 202502 / 07
His son saw him on a screen. "We saw the marks of torture, pain and exhaustion clearly etched on his face."
On June 10 2026, Abu Safiya appeared via video link at an Israeli Supreme Court hearing. It was the first time his family had seen him since February 2025.
His son Ilyas told Al Jazeera: "When we saw his latest image, we received it with shock, with tears and with weeping. We did not only see the face of a father we have missed for many long months, we saw the marks of torture, pain and exhaustion clearly etched on his face."
Footage showed him visibly thinner. His brother Muafaq had previously stated through his lawyer that he had lost 40kg. He appeared in a white t-shirt and grey tracksuit, handcuffed and shackled.
Source: Al Jazeera June 11 2026, Ilyas Abu Safiya on record · The National News June 11 2026 · J Post June 10 2026
EP4-S3 · Heavy shackles on concrete floor
Handcuffed and shackled · Court refused to remove them03 / 07
His lawyer asked the court to remove the shackles during the hearing. The court refused.
During the hearing, Abu Safiya appeared handcuffed and shackled. His lawyer Nasser Odeh requested the restraints be removed. The court refused.
He was also experiencing vision problems after his eyeglasses were confiscated and had not been returned. Signs of skin disease had appeared on his hands, which Odeh said was widespread among Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
He had not received any medical treatment for his chronic illness or for injuries sustained during an assault during transfer between facilities.
Source: Al Jazeera June 11 2026, Nasser Odeh on record · Breakthrough News June 11 2026
EP4-S4 · White t-shirt and grey tracksuit · handcuffs beside
His words to the court · On record · June 10 202604 / 07
"I am a paediatrician providing medical care to patients, the wounded and the vulnerable. My detention is unjust and arbitrary. I demand my immediate release."
These are his own words, delivered through his lawyer Nasser Odeh after 530 days of detention without charge.
He stated he carried out his work in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.
No criminal charges have been filed against him. No formal indictment exists. He is held under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which requires neither.
Source: Al Jazeera June 11 2026 · Mondoweiss June 19 2026 · 972 Magazine June 17 2026
EP4-S5 · Empty courtroom · blurred figure on screen
The system. What it looks like.05 / 07
He was not in the courtroom. He was on a screen in the courtroom. Handcuffed. Unable to sit with his lawyer.
The hearing was not a trial. There are no charges and no indictment. It was an appeal against continued detention under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows detention without charges subject to judicial review every six months.
His lawyer had filed the appeal after an earlier district court renewed his detention on April 28 2026. The Supreme Court was considering whether to keep holding a man against whom no charges exist.
He appeared on a screen. The lawyers were in the room. He was not. The lawyer asked that evidence on which his detention is based be disclosed. The court refused, citing classified material.
Source: 972 Magazine June 17 2026 · Mondoweiss June 19 2026 · BT News June 11 2026
EP4-S6 · Nafha Prison exterior · Hebrew signage · desert
Nafha Prison · Negev desert · Solitary confinement since June 3 202606 / 07
This is Nafha Prison. He was transferred to solitary confinement here on June 3. Seven days before his court appearance.
On June 3 2026, one week before his Supreme Court appearance, Abu Safiya was transferred to solitary confinement in Nafha Prison in the Negev desert.
His lawyer described the timing as punitive: "The decision to place him in isolation appears to be punitive and came after he filed an appeal."
He remains in solitary confinement, denied adequate food, denied medical treatment for his chronic illness, and denied his eyeglasses. Over 1,300 Palestinians are currently held under the Unlawful Combatants Law.
Source: Palestine Chronicle June 2026, Nasser Odeh on record · Al Jazeera June 11 2026 · 972 Magazine June 17 2026
EP4-S7 · Court rejection document · Hebrew · judge signature
June 16 2026 · Supreme Court rejection · Series final question07 / 07
The Supreme Court rejected his appeal on June 16 2026. He remains in solitary confinement. No charges. No indictment. His words from inside: "A person is their history and history is built upon the stands they take."
This is the end of the Dr Hussam Abu Safiya series. He is still in Nafha Prison. He is still in solitary confinement. There are still no charges. The series ends here. His detention does not.
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