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A group of House Democrats has called for Israel to release hundreds of health care workers, including physicians like Hussam Abu Safiya, from detention as Israel’s genocide in Gaza reaches into its fourth year.

Six Democrats, led by Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (Illinois), released a joint statement on Tuesday condemning Israel for its “systematic persecution” of Palestinian health care workers and demanding their release from arbitrary detention.

“Over the last three years, the Israeli government has systematically destroyed the health system in Palestine, murdering at least 1,700 Palestinian doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare workers and destroying dozens of hospitals. It has arrested and arbitrarily detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers, including at least 16 physicians who continue to be held in inhumane conditions,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Democrats specifically call for the release of Abu Safiya, who Israel has held in its torture camps for nearly two years, where they have starved and tortured him, his lawyer says. Abu Safiya is a pediatrician who served as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza when Israel besieged the area.

The world watched in December 2024 as Israel’s ground raid closed in on Kamal Adwan, with Israeli forces eventually ordering the entire facility to be evacuated, setting it ablaze and arresting Abu Safiya. The hospital was left in ruins after Israeli soldiers were done with it.

I Saw Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Save Lives. Now Israel Is Holding Him Hostage.

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