Six US Progressives Demand Release of Gaza Doctor Hussam Abu Safia, Condemn Israeli Attacks on Medical Workers

A coalition of six progressive members of the United States Congress has issued a public statement calling on Israel to release Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, a Gaza physician who has been held in Israeli detention since December 2024 without charge or trial. The lawmakers also used the statement to condemn what they describe as a systematic Israeli campaign against Palestinian healthcare workers and medical infrastructure across the Palestinian territories.

The statement, released on Tuesday, was signed by Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Summer Lee, Pramila Jayapal and Delia Ramirez. All six are known for their critical positions on Israeli military operations in Gaza and have previously pushed for greater congressional scrutiny of US military assistance to Israel. Their joint intervention marks the latest attempt by progressive lawmakers to keep the plight of detained Palestinian medical personnel on the Washington agenda.

At the center of the lawmakers' appeal is Abu Safia, a doctor who was taken into custody by Israeli forces in December 2024. According to accounts cited in the statement and previous reporting, Abu Safia and other medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza refused to evacuate the facility when Israeli forces ordered them to leave. He was subsequently arrested and has remained in detention ever since.

Lawyers representing Abu Safia say he has been subjected to torture, sleep deprivation and beatings during his time in Israeli custody. No formal charges have been filed against him, and he has not been given a trial. His case has drawn international attention, with human rights groups and medical organizations repeatedly demanding his release and expressing concern about his health and treatment while detained.

The congressional statement places Abu Safia's case within a broader pattern. It asserts that over the past three years, the Israeli government has systematically dismantled the healthcare system in Palestine, killing at least 1,700 Palestinian doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel. It also claims that dozens of hospitals have been destroyed and that hundreds of healthcare workers have been arrested and arbitrarily detained, including at least 16 physicians who remain in what the lawmakers describe as inhumane conditions.

These figures echo assessments made by a range of international rights organizations, UN officials and academic researchers who have documented the toll of Israel's military campaign on Gaza's medical sector. The near-total destruction of hospitals and medical centers in the strip has left the remaining population with severely limited access to care, compounding the effects of shortages in food, clean water and other essentials.

The lawmakers argue that these actions form part of an intentional policy aimed at advancing occupation, apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people. That language reflects a position increasingly adopted by a growing number of rights groups and UN experts, who have accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, as a means of collective punishment.

Israel has consistently rejected such characterizations. Israeli officials maintain that hospitals and medical facilities are targeted because Palestinian armed groups allegedly use them to plan and carry out operations. However, these claims have frequently been challenged by independent investigations that found little or no evidence to support them.

One widely cited example involved the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza in March 2025. Israel initially claimed that an ambulance convoy had approached its soldiers in a suspicious manner and suggested, without providing evidence, that some of the deceased were linked to Hamas. Israeli authorities later acknowledged that their forces had killed the group. A subsequent investigation by Forensic Architecture and Earshot determined that Israeli soldiers fired more than 900 bullets at a clearly marked ambulance convoy, killed some of the medics execution-style, and then buried the bodies and vehicles.

The detention of Abu Safia has become a rallying point for medical and humanitarian organizations. Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, has publicly demanded the release of detained Palestinian healthcare workers, warning that the targeting of medical personnel undermines the already fragile capacity to deliver care in Gaza. The World Health Organization has also raised alarms about the consequences of delayed aid and the collapse of health services.

For the six US lawmakers, the statement represents both a moral appeal and a political signal. While Congress has remained broadly supportive of Israel through military funding and diplomatic cover, a vocal minority of progressive representatives has sought to shift the debate by highlighting specific cases of alleged abuse. The letter is unlikely to change US policy on its own, but it adds to the pressure on the Biden administration and international bodies to address the treatment of Palestinian detainees.

The statement also comes amid ongoing legal proceedings related to Abu Safia. He appeared via video link at a hearing before the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem in June 2026, an indication that his case is subject to at least some judicial review. Nevertheless, the absence of charges after nearly two years of detention remains a central grievance for his supporters, who argue that his continued imprisonment amounts to administrative detention without due process.

As the war in Gaza continues to generate international controversy, the fate of Abu Safia and other detained medical workers is likely to remain a focal point for rights advocates. The congressional statement ensures that their names and cases continue to circulate in Washington, even as the broader conflict shows few signs of resolution.