the world demands to know: where is Dr. Safiya!?
the director of Gaza's last functioning hospital has been kidnapped by Israel.
Good day, spectators,
And, where the hell is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya?
For months, Dr. Abu Safiya was the voice of Gaza’s collapsing health sector, a beacon of resistance amidst a brutal siege. He tirelessly appealed for the protection of his hospital, even as it crumbled around him under relentless Israeli bombardment. And still, he worked on, undeterred—saving lives, comforting the many dying—all while mourning his own son, killed by the same forces tearing Gaza apart.
And now, he’s gone. Just disappeared like so many other Palestinians.
On the 27th of December, his pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. Israel raided the last functioning hospital in North Gaza and left it in ruins. During the chaos, Dr. Abu Safiya was detained alongside other staff. A now-famous photo captures his last moments of freedom: walking towards an Israeli tank, unarmed, a man defending not just his hospital, but human dignity itself. Here is the video of that moment:
Dr. Abu Safiya was blindfolded, herded with others, and spirited away to some dungeon far from the besieged strip. His whereabouts are now unknown.
This is not an isolated event. Israel has been systematically targeting healthcare workers and infrastructure in Gaza for months, it’s almost a new sport for them. The Kamal Adwan Hospital, was once a critical lifeline, but now it is now largely out of service. Since the beginning of its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has detained hundreds of healthcare workers without charge or trial. Many have faced torture, incommunicado detention, and other inhumane treatment.
And let’s not forget the thousands of other Palestinians languishing in Israeli detention centres, including children, held without trial. Hostages. Facing obscene horrors. Just a few months ago, military prison guards were found to be gang raping a Palestinian prisoner. Another detainee was so violently assaulted with a fire extinguisher hose in his rectum that he was left debilitated in a hospital bed. Excuse my explicitness but these are things we must talk plainly about.
This is the true face of Israel’s so-called ‘security measures’: the systematic destruction of Palestinian lives, dignity, and the very infrastructure that sustains them.
As we head into the new year, do not forget Dr. Abu Safiya. Do not forget the people of Palestine. And remember that silence in the face of genocide is complicity.
This may be my last post of this year, if so, I wish you a peaceful transition into 2025 and a prosperous year ahead!
(As always, thanks for reading and please give this post a ❤️ and restack below.)
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I don’t care what else happens in this world, what is happening and what has happened in Gaza is a huge stain on the face of humanity and the so-called moral code that is supposed to be the prized possession of Western civilizations. Instead the stain is filled with the barbarism of unimaginable proportions and if this is normalized by acceptance or forgetting, I shudder to think what the copy-cat crimes against humanity will look like.
His crime? Healing the sick the wounded.