Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard has said that Israel’s detention of Kamal Adwan Hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safia is emblematic of the “genocidal intent” in Israel’s broader attempts to “annihilate” Gaza’s healthcare sector in a post on X.

“So in a new twist, the IDF now acknowledges detaining Dr Hussam Abu Safiyyah, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, insisting he is investigated for links with Hamas — please join Amnesty in calling for Dr Hussam to be granted access to a lawyer and his family, and for his release,” she said in the post on X.

“Dr Abu Safiya’s unlawful detention is emblematic of the broader attacks on the healthcare sector in Gaza and Israel’s attempts to annihilate it. It is part and parcel of Israel’s genocidal intent and genocidal acts — meant to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians,” the statement said.