Israeli-Detained Palestinian Doctor in Life-Threatening Condition | Palestine Policy Roundup 7.8.26
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
THE HUMAN COST OF WAR: BY THE NUMBERS:
🇵🇸 GAZA: 1,072 killed since the beginning of Trump's Gaza plan (Palestinian Ministry of Health); at least 3,465 Israeli violations of Trump's Gaza plan (Gaza Government Media Office); 73,110 killed during Israel's genocide (Palestinian Ministry of Health)
🇮🇷 IRAN: 3,468 killed (Iran Ministry of Health)
🇱🇧 LEBANON: 4,319 killed (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health)
🇮🇱 ISRAEL: 26 killed (Israel Ministry of Health)
🇺🇲 US: 13 servicemembers killed (US Military)
🏛️ LEG UPDATES
Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03) cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 75.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03) led a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio requesting information on the serious "constitutional, legal, and humanitarian consequences" of Trump's Gaza Board–also known as the Board of Peace–and US military involvement with the International Stabilization Force.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) led a letter, joined by 75 other House Members, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon following the April ceasefire and the use of US-provided weapons and equipment to destroy homes and civilian infrastructure.
🩺 PALESTINIAN DOCTOR DETAINED BY ISRAEL IN LIFE-THREATENING CONDITION
Over the weekend, lawyers for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a prominent Palestinian pediatrician who was detained without charge by the Israeli military in 2024, warned that he is in "life threatening condition" and is at immediate risk of death following more than 500 days in Israeli detention. Israel's arbitrary detention and torture of Dr. Abu Safiya violate both US and international law, and international human rights organizations are calling for him to be released immediately.
WHO IS DR. SAFIYA? Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is a Palestinian pediatrician from Gaza who was the acting director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital during Israel's siege on the hospital and northern Gaza from October to December 2024.
Israeli soldiers illegally detained Dr. Abu Safiya during an attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital on December 27, 2024. Dr. Abu Safiya has been held by Israel without charge since then.
Dr. Abu Safiya refused to leave behind his patients–primarily infants and children–even after the Israeli military killed his teenage son Ibrahim in October 2024.
"THIS IS THE END" Dr. Abu Safiya has been subjected to brutal abuse and torture by Israeli soldiers, causing his lawyer to struggle to recognize him. Dr. Abu Safiya said via a lawyer: "This is the last time you will see me. They brought me here to kill me. I don't see myself surviving. This is the end."
Dr. Abu Safiya is beingtortured and abused in Israeli detention. He has reportedly been beaten daily since he filed an appeal for his release last month–at least one of the beatings included the use of a hammer.
During a visit by his lawyer last Sunday, Dr. Abu Safiya reportedly struggled to breathe and speak, struggled to sit upright, and struggled to remain conscious. He had fresh bruises across his face and body.
According to his son, Elyas Abu Safiya, Dr. Abu Safiya has not received adequate medical treatment for skin diseases he contracted while in detention.
Dr. Abu Saifya was placed in solitary confinement last month.
ISRAEL'S SYSTEMIC DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN DOCTORS:
Dr. Abu Safiya is one ofdozens of Palestinian medical workers that the Israeli military is holding in detention. Many of these medical workers were abducted from Gaza during Israel's genocide of Palestinians, and several reportsevere torture and abuse.
Israel's arbitrary detention, torture, targeting, and killing of medical workers are likely war crimes, and they contribute to Israel's destruction of Gaza's medical infrastructure to facilitate ongoing genocidal acts there.
⏳ TRUMP'S GAZA BOARD PREPARES FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING, LAND THEFT
Last week, representatives from President Trump's corporate-style board, also known as the Board of Peace, held a secretive meeting on the implementation of its partition and takeover of Gaza. While details of the meeting remain uncertain, several reports have once again made clear that the board intends to move forward with the denial of Palestinian self-determination and freedom.
PREPARING GHETTOS: Israeli media reported last week that the board is preparing to launch the first of its high-tech ghettos, to which Palestinians will be forcibly displaced and in which they will be subjected to intense electronic surveillance.
The first of these ghettos will be located on the outskirts of Rafah in the southwest corner of Gaza, along the border with Egypt. Concentrating Palestinians there could facilitate Israel's well-known and long-standing plans for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza by pushing them into Egypt.
This location is behind the Israeli side of the redeployment line, also known as the yellow line, under Israel's military occupation. Palestinians will be forced to traverse the yellow line to reach this site. Palestinians are routinely shot and killed if they so much as approach the yellow line.
Humanitarian aid and temporary shelters will reportedly be provided to Palestinians in the ghetto, but the board has made clear that no concrete will be allowed into Gaza for its reconstruction.
The restriction of humanitarian aid to these ghettos is explicitly intended to concentrate Palestinians in areas under Israeli military occupation as Israel expands the area of Gaza under its control.
COLONIAL OCCUPATION: In the lead-up to the secretive meetings, a leaked draft resolution reportedly planned for sweeping legal immunity for the board, its members, and entities that carry out its plans in Gaza. The board would face no accountability in Palestinian or international courts and effectively insulates itself from international oversight, according to legal experts.
The resolution also allows for the board to unilaterally steal Palestinian land for its use or for use by its entities, including the Office of the High Commissioner and the International Stabilization Force.
This power could facilitate the construction of projects outlined in Jared Kushner's presentation on the board's plans at Davos–which includes the construction of data centers and resort-style coastal towers.
These projects would benefit foreign investors rather than Palestinian genocide survivors.
📖 LEARN MORE about how Trump's Gaza Board is preparing a corporate takeover of Gaza and threatening its partition in our recent policy memos.
🚧 US PLANS JERUSALEM EMBASSY ON STOLEN PALESTINIAN LAND
Last week, the US signed an agreement with Israel to build a permanent US embassy compound in Jerusalem. This move violates international law by advancing the Trump administration's recognition of all of Jerusalem, including illegally occupied East Jerusalem, as the Israeli capital. It also violates a UN resolution which banned diplomatic missions in the city.
The land that the embassy compound would be built on, known as the Allenby Barracks compound, was also stolen from Palestinians whose families include US citizens. The US is aware that this land was stolen from these Palestinian refugees.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: "Palestinian pediatrician, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, has spent 18 months in Israeli prisons without trial or charge. His lawyer reports his life is in immediate danger, following torture and poor treatment in prison. He must be released immediately."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: "Today marks 1,000 days since the start of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. To this day, Palestinians continue to be massacred by this apartheid regime with the full backing of our government. We need a full arms embargo now and to bring perpetrators to justice. Free Palestine."
Rep. Jim McGovern: "Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician, has been languishing in Israeli prisons for 18 months without charge. He's been beaten & tortured. Israel is violating its obligations under int'l law by continuing his detention. Not one more taxpayer dime should be sent to aid and abet such vile abuses."
Rep. Delia Ramirez: "Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a prominent Palestinian doctor, has been detained for 18 months without charge or trial. Now, he's reportedly in critical condition after being beaten by IDF soldiers. We must put an end to the impunity and violations of U.S. and international law. We must defend our shared humanity. We must pass my Block the Bombs Act!"