Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory, has urged EU leaders to act over the detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, Al Jazeera reported. 

“I officially ask EU leaders [Ursula] von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas what demarches they have taken to set free Dr Abu Safia and the other thousands of Palestinian hostages who, like the Israeli hostages, have the sacrosanct right to return home,” she wrote on X.

Abu Safia, 51, was taken by the Israeli army in Gaza in December and moved to the Sde Teiman military detention camp in the Negev desert in southern Israel before being transferred to Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

His lawyer previously told Al Jazeera that Abu Safia had been subjected to “intense torture and inhumane treatment” in detention.

Amnesty International has also condemned Israel’s actions, saying: “Dr Abu Safia’s arrest and ongoing arbitrary detention without charges or trial is a reflection of Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian health workers.”