Israeli government pressed to reveal location of detained Gaza hospital director

An Israeli human rights group said it has filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice demanding to know the whereabouts of a prominent Palestinian hospital director detained by the military.

A human rights group has filed a petition with Israel’s top court demanding to know the whereabouts of a prominent Palestinian hospital director detained by the Israeli military. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has not been seen publicly since he was arrested during an Israeli raid last week that closed Kamal Adwan Hospital – the last major functioning health facility in northern Gaza. Recently released former detainees told CNN on Monday that Dr. Abu Safiya is being held along with other medics from the hospital at Sde Teiman – a notorious military base in Israel’s Negev desert that doubles as a detention facility. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) said in a statement Thursday that it filed the petition with the High Court after receiving a response to an inquiry from the Israeli military claiming that it had “found no indication of the arrest or detention of the individual in question.” The IDF has since told CNN that Dr. Abu Safiya “was apprehended for suspected involvement in terrorist activities, and for holding a rank in the Hamas terror organization, while hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were hiding inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital under his management. He is currently being investigated by Israeli security forces.” It made similar allegations about the hospital and its director around the time of the raid on the facility, without providing evidence for the claims.