(October 15, 2025)

Tomorrow, 16 October 2025, at 9:30 a.m. (Palestine time), the Bir al-Sabi’ District Court is scheduled to hold a closed-door hearing to extend Dr. Abu Safiya’s arbitrary detention for an additional six months. Dr. Abu Safiya will participate via video from Ofer Prison, where he is currently detained.

The prolonged detention without charges of Dr. Abu Safiya, amid documented accounts of torture, inhumane detention conditions, and the absence of any indication of release, indicates that he is being held as a hostage. Al Mezan warns that Israel may be using his detention, along with that of thousands of other Palestinians, as political leverage in ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Such use of Palestinian prisoners and detainees as bargaining cheaps constitutes hostage-taking under international humanitarian law (IHL).