Gaza hospital chief held in ‘inhumane’ conditions by Israel: lawyer

Gaza hospital chief held in ‘inhumane’ conditions by Israel: lawyer
Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, is treated by colleagues for his injuries following an Israeli strike that according to the civil defence in Gaza hit the medical compound in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, late on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 16 April 2025
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Gaza hospital chief held in ‘inhumane’ conditions by Israel: lawyer

Gaza hospital chief held in ‘inhumane’ conditions by Israel: lawyer
  • Abu Safiya was subjected to interrogations involving beatings, mistreatment and torture.
  • In January, rights group Amnesty International demanded Abu Safiya’s release, citing witness testimonies describing “the horrifying reality” in Israeli prisons.

NAZARETH: The director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital who was detained by Israeli forces in December is being held in “inhumane” conditions by Israel and subjected to “physical and psychological intimidation,” his lawyer told AFP.
Hussam Abu Safiya, a 52-year-old paediatrician, rose to prominence last year by posting about the dire conditions in his besieged hospital in Beit Lahia during a major Israeli offensive.
On December 27, Israeli forces began an assault on the facility which they labelled a Hamas “terrorist center,” and arrested dozens of medical staff including Abu Safiya.
The military accused him of being a “Hamas operative.”
Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Gheed Qassem, was able to visit the doctor on March 19 in Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.
“He is suffering greatly, he is exhausted from the torture, the pressure and the humiliation he has endured to force him to confess to acts he did not commit,” said Qassem who met an AFP correspondent in Nazareth.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment from AFP about the conditions in which Abu Safiya is being held.
After initially spending two weeks in the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel’s Negev desert, Abu Safiya was transferred to Ofer, where Israel keeps hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
In Sde Teiman, Abu Safiya was subjected to interrogations “involving beatings, mistreatment and torture,” Qassem said, before he was transferred to a cramped cell in Ofer for 25 days, where he was also subjected to questioning.
The Israeli authorities have designated the medic an “illegal combatant” for an “unlimited period of time,” Qassem said, and his case has been designated confidential by the military, meaning Abu Safiya’s defense cannot access the files.
She denounced what she said were restrictions imposed on legal visits, which have prevented lawyers from informing detainees about “the war, the date, the time or their geographic location.”
Her meeting with Abu Safiya, which took place under tight surveillance, lasted for only 17 minutes, she said.
Adopted in 2002, Israel’s law concerning “illegal combatants” permits the detention of suspected members of “hostile forces” outside of normal legal frameworks.
In January, rights group Amnesty International demanded Abu Safiya’s release, citing witness testimonies describing “the horrifying reality” in Israeli prisons, where Palestinian detainees are subjected to “systematic acts of torture and other mistreatment.”
A social media campaign using the hashtag #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya has brought together health care organizations, celebrities and UN leaders.
That includes the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who demanded Abu Safiya’s release in a post on X.
Qassem warned that her client’s health was “very worrying.”
“He is suffering from arterial tension, cardiac arrhythmia and vision problems,” she said, adding “he has lost 20 kilos in two months and fractured four ribs during interrogations, without receiving proper medical care.”
The doctor remains calm, she said, but “wonders what crime he has committed” to be subjected to “such inhumane conditions.”
According to the lawyer, Abu Safiya’s jailers are demanding that he confess to having operated on members of Hamas or Israeli hostages held in Gaza, but he has refused to do so and denies the accusations.
The doctor insists that he is just a paediatrician, “and everything he did was out of a moral, professional and human duty toward the patients and the wounded,” Qassem said.
Since October 7, 2023, around 5,000 Gazans have been arrested by Israel, and some were subsequently released in exchange for hostages held in Gaza.
In general, they are accused of “belonging to a terrorist organization” or of posing “a threat to Israel’s security,” the lawyer said.
Qassem said that a number of detainees are being held without charge or trial and that their lawyers often did not know where their clients were during the first months of the war.


UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart

UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart
Updated 5 sec ago
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UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart

UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart
  • Ministers discussed strengthening the UAE-Germany strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation in key sectors

LONDON: UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan congratulated Johann Wadephul on his appointment as Germany’s minister of foreign affairs.

The two ministers discussed strengthening the UAE-Germany strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation in key sectors during a phone call on Tuesday, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sheikh Abdullah hoped to achieve mutual prosperity between Germany and the UAE, whose diplomatic ties were established in 1972.

In 2023, the UAE became one of Germany’s most important business partners in the Middle East, with a bilateral trade volume exceeding €14 billion ($15.768 billion). According to Germany’s Federal Foreign Office report, German imports from the UAE experienced a 150 percent increase in the same year.

Wadephul, a veteran conservative and defense policy expert, assumed the foreign minister’s office on May 7 in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.


Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport

Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport
Updated 26 min 41 sec ago
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Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport

Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport
  • Ayman Safadi says Jordan is Syria’s gateway to the Arabian Gulf, while Syria acts as Jordan’s gateway to Europe
  • Asaad Al-Shaibani: Syrians are tired after 14 years of war, and the country wants to focus on maintaining security and stability

LONDON: Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs, on Tuesday discussed strengthening cooperation during a meeting in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Al-Shaibani.

The Jordanian delegation included the ministers of water, industry, trade, energy, and transport, who discussed coordination with their Syrian counterparts and signed an agreement to establish a coordination council between the two countries.

Al-Shaibani said that diplomatic efforts resulted in the lifting of European sanctions shortly after the US announced it would lift sanctions on the country. He added that lifting sanctions on Syria would enhance cooperation with Jordan in transport and energy, positively affecting the region.

The minister said Syria shares borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and aims to maintain its security while addressing threats, as its security would affect neighboring countries.

Al-Shaibani and Safadi opposed the Israeli intervention in Syria after the change of rule in Damascus in December 2024, the SANA agency reported.

Al-Shaibani said Syrians are tired after 14 years of war, and the country wants to focus on maintaining security and stability while finding solutions for vital issues such as energy and electricity.

Safadi and Al-Shaibani have agreed to establish a roadmap to enhance cooperation in energy, transport, water, and health, SANA added.

Safadi said that Jordan is Syria’s gateway to the Arabian Gulf and the Arab world, while Syria is Jordan’s gateway to Europe, and affirmed Amman’s support for Syria.


Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy

Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy
Updated 20 May 2025
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Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy

Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy
  • Lebanese authorities “have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years,” Ortagus said
  • “However, there’s a lot more to go“

DOHA: Lebanon still has “more” to do in disarming Hezbollah following the war between the Iran-backed group and Israel, Deputy US Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said Tuesday.

As part of a deal agreed to end 14 months of fighting last November, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, while Israel was to pull all its forces from south Lebanon.

The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

UN peacekeepers are also present in the area and play a role in supervising the ceasefire.

Lebanese authorities “have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years,” Ortagus said at the Qatar Economic Forum referring to efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

“However, there’s a lot more to go,” she added.

“We in the United States have called for the full disarmament of Hezbollah. And so that doesn’t mean just south of the Litani. That means in the whole country,” Ortagus said at the Qatar conference calling on Lebanese politicians “to make a decision.”

It has also continued to launch raids on its neighbor despite the ceasefire.

Last month, President Joseph Aoun said the army was deployed in more than 85 percent of Lebanon’s south, and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was “Israel’s occupation of five border positions.”

In defiance of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli military continues to occupy five positions close to the border that it has declared to be strategic.


Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture

Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture
Updated 20 May 2025
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Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture

Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture

ALEPPO: Severe drought in Syria this year could lead to the failure of an estimated 75 percent of local wheat crops, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, threatening the food security of millions of people.
Toni Ettel, the FAO’s representative in Syria, told Reuters the agency anticipated a “food shortage of 2.7 million tons of wheat for this year, which is sufficient to feed 16.3 million people over one year.”
Under former President Bashar Assad, Damascus depended on wheat imports from Russia to support a bread subsidy program during past droughts.
Wheat farmers like Asaad Ezzeldin, 45, have seen their crops fail due to the drought. It has further strained Syria’s beleaguered agricultural sector that suffered from fighting and heavy bombardment during 13 years of civil war.
“Agriculture in Aleppo’s northern countryside has been hit because of the lack of irrigation. There is no rainfall,” he said.
Moscow, a staunch ally of Assad, suspended wheat supplies to Syria soon after Islamist rebels toppled him, citing uncertainties about the country’s new authorities.
In a surprise announcement last week, US President Donald Trump said he would order the lifting of all sanctions on Syria. Washington is likely to begin providing some sanctions relief in the coming weeks.
The flow of funds could revive the agriculture sector, providing much-needed technologies for irrigation and infrastructure renewal, Ettel said.
Unable to buy wheat and fuel, Syria’s new government had lobbied for a lifting of the sanctions that for years isolated the Syrian economy and made it dependent on Russia and Iran.
Syria’s agriculture ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday she hoped ministers would reach an agreement on lifting EU economic sanctions on Syria. The EU has already eased sanctions related to energy, transport and reconstruction, and associated financial transactions, but some argued this was not enough to support its political transition and economic recovery.


UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank

UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank
Updated 20 May 2025
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UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank

UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank

Britain said on Tuesday it had sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians.

Sanctions were placed on Neria’s Farm outpost, as well as individuals residing in the outpost. Sanctions were also imposed on Nachala, Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd, Harel Libi, Daniella Weiss, and Coco’s Farm outpost.

The UK sanctioned Zohar Sabah for “involvement in threatening, perpetrating, permitting and supporting acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals.”