Healthcare workers around the world have launched an online campaign demanding the Israeli army immediately release Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.
Hundreds of medical professionals are using the hashtag #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiyeh to decry Israel's capture and detention of him as well as calling for Israel to be held accountable for attacks on hospital facilities and medics.
Abu Safiya gained prominence when Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, as he gave regular updates to global media on the humanitarian state and medical conditions in the enclave.
Since the start of the war, he has also been praised for refusing to neglect patients in the Kamal Adwan Hospital as Israel pounded it and set fire to parts of it.
Sarah Warren, a nurse, told °®Âþµº that by carrying out attacks on medical facilities, Israel is violating many international laws.
"The Hippocratic oath has been eradicated by the precedent set in Palestine. The international medical community has demonstrated that there are exceptions to the rule of 'do no harm'" she said.
"Every single moment that healthcare workers stay silent or worse, justify these atrocities, justify the abduction of our colleagues, justify the destruction of hospitals, justify our colleagues being buried in rubble in their scrubs by the genocidal occupying force that is Israel, we erode this oath" she added.
"As a nurse, I see clear as day the harm being inflicted on an entire population of people, the systematic destruction that will have devastating consequences for decades" she continued.
Online, medical staff and students shared images of themselves holding a poster with the campaign hashtag and shed light on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
"I’m Professor of Medicine Rupa Marya at UCSF on leave because of the university’s racist repression against those who speak up for the rights of Palestinians facing genocide. I’m calling for the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya"
"I'm Dr Arun Sivasankar, a physician from Calicut, India. I’m calling for the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya"
Many medics from around the world participated in the campaign, including from Egypt, the UK, Brazil and Canada.
"My Name is Asmaa Galal, I’m a Paediatric dentist from Egypt. I’m calling for the immediate release of Dr Hassam Abu Safiya and all other medical and allied health professionals from Gaza currently detained by Israeli forces"
Over 1,400 people have also calling for his release, citing international laws which prohibit deliberate or wilful attacks on medical facilities and personnel, as well as the wounded and sick.
Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli forces on 27 December, with reports stating he had been taken to the notorious Israeli Sde Teiman detention prison.
Since then, his son released a statement in a video where he urgently appeals to the international community to help release his father.
"During this period, my father lost his beloved son and our brother Ibrahim and he himself was seriously injured and is still suffering until this moment. Despite this, our father continued to perform his duties with all sincerity" his son said.
"…We have received testimonies from released detainees confirming our father has been subjected to humiliation and abuse – including him being forced to undress and being used as a human shield" he added, calling rights groups to facilitate his release.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the north’s biggest, has now been rendered out of service following relentless Israeli attacks. Coupled with a full siege on the north, no aid and no ambulances, people in the north now have very little access to treatment.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 45,541 Palestinians since 7 October 2023 and wounded over 108,338 others in the same time frame.