Doctors Against Genocide calls global hour of action for detained Palestinian doctors

Doctors Against Genocide is urging healthcare workers and allies worldwide to take part in a rolling one-hour action on July 15, 2026, to demand protection for detained Palestinian medical staff and the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. The appeal comes as the group says Abu Safiya faces imminent danger and more than 85 Palestinian healthcare workers remain detained.

Why it matters: - Doctors Against Genocide says the health worker detentions and reported abuse threaten medical neutrality, due process, and the safety of caregivers in Gaza and the West Bank. - The group is asking hospitals, medical societies, unions, universities, and humanitarian organizations to publicly pressure governments and international bodies to act. - The campaign centers on Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, whom the organization says faces imminent danger while detained without charge.

What happened: - Doctors Against Genocide called for a rolling global One Hour of Action on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, from 12:00–1:00 PM local time in every country. - The action is being organized in solidarity with the Palestinian Physicians Syndicate in Gaza and the West Bank, along with regional and international partner organizations. - Participants are being asked to hold peaceful local actions, including white coat gatherings, hospital assemblies, vigils, educational events, advocacy visits, public statements, and moments of silence. - The group issued an emergency appeal over Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician and former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza. - Doctors Against Genocide says Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli authorities on Dec. 27, 2024, after refusing to leave children and patients during the assault on his hospital.

The details: - The organization says Abu Safiya remains detained without formal criminal charges. - His attorney’s recent visit and reporting by Physicians for Human Rights Israel and international news organizations describe beatings with metal rods and a metal hammer, severe physical deterioration, difficulty breathing and speaking, and fear that he may not survive. - Israel’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal on June 16, 2026, upholding detention without charge until at least October 2026. - Abu Safiya has been held in solitary confinement since June 3, a stretch the statement says exceeds the 15 consecutive days allowed under the Nelson Mandela Rules. - United Nations human rights experts have called for his immediate release and transfer to a civilian hospital for life-saving medical care. - Doctors Against Genocide says more than 85 Palestinian healthcare workers remain detained, along with more than 9,500 Palestinian detainees, many reportedly held without criminal charges or meaningful due process. - The group cites concerns documented or raised by United Nations experts, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, B'Tselem, and others regarding torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, denial of medical care, prolonged arbitrary detention, sexual violence, and other abuses. - The statement also says the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Public Health Association, and the World Medical Association have affirmed that healthcare professionals must not participate in, facilitate, or ignore torture. - Doctors Against Genocide points to the Hoffman Report and the American Psychological Association’s later anti-torture commitment as a warning about the consequences of institutional silence. - The full statement can be read and endorsed here.

Between the lines: - The campaign is framed as both a medical ethics issue and a human rights test, with the group arguing that silence from health institutions would amount to complicity. - By tying the action to local time zones worldwide, Doctors Against Genocide is trying to turn a single day of protest into a synchronized global show of pressure. - The focus on Abu Safiya gives the campaign a single, high-profile case that can stand in for broader concerns about detainee treatment.

What's next: - Healthcare workers and supporters are being asked to organize local actions at 12:00 PM local time on July 15. - Doctors Against Genocide is urging governments, medical institutions, United Nations agencies, humanitarian groups, and other relevant bodies to protect detainees and enforce international law. - The group is calling for the immediate release of Abu Safiya and all detained Palestinian healthcare workers, plus access for the International Committee of the Red Cross and independent monitors, independent medical evaluations, legal representation, and impartial investigations. - The campaign says the goal is to secure protection, dignity, due process, and safe return home for every detained healthcare worker.

The bottom line: - Doctors Against Genocide is using a coordinated global hour of action to demand immediate protection for detained Palestinian healthcare workers and to spotlight what it describes as an urgent threat to one of Gaza’s best-known doctors.