Israel has placed children’s surgeon Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya into solitary confinement.

Dr Safiya came to the attention of the world when he was seen leaving his besieged hospital and walking alone towards an Israeli tank in Gaza.

On June 3, 2026, Israeli forces transfered Dr Safiya from Naqab Prison to solitary confinement in Nafha Prison. The decision to place Dr. Abu Safiya in solitary confinement has raised concerns among his family regarding his health, safety, and overall well being, and is a significant escalation in his treatment while in custody.

Horrendous accounts of Palestinian prisoners being subjected to torture, including rape and sexual assault, whilst in Israeli prisons have been published in Western media.

Dr Safiya is a Palestinian paediatrician and neonatologist who served as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza from February 2024 until its forced evacuation by the Israeli military in December 2024. Dr Abu Safiya was detained without charge in Ofer Prison for over a year.

This hero doctor refused to abandon the babies and children in his care whilst Israeli tanks bombed and surrounded the hospital with tanks. Eventually on 27 December 2024, the Israeli military forced the hospital’s staff and patients to leave. Dr Safiya was the last to leave – and was immediately taken by the occupying forces.

Since then Dr Safiya has been tortured in prison, and now he has been put in solitary confinement.

Amnesty UK is urging people to demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all detained health workers now. Click on this link to access for more information: Release paediatrician and hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.

On Saturday 6 June, peace campaigners in Orkney will meet in vigil to raise awareness of the plight of Dr Safiya and the thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, swept up in random raids in their communities in Gaza and The West Bank. The vigils want to see the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, and a permanent ceasefire.

The vigil takes place, as it has been doing since the end of October 2023, on the Kirk Green, Broad Street, Kirkwall, between 1 and 2 pm.

The Orkney News has documented all the vigils, including interviews with some of the people who attend them. The films can be found on The Orkney News YouTube channel. Here is the latest:

In Gaza, the ceasefire, that isn’t a ceasefire, the horrors continue, with a slow and deliberate genocide taking place. The Israeli forces are expanding their control over the area to 70%.

Fiona Grahame