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Care In Conflict
Son of Gaza paediatrician urges RCPCH to “raise its voice before it is too late” in letter shared with UKHPRC
Published 10 July 2026
Elias Hussam Abu Safiya has made a direct appeal to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, calling on the College to intervene for his father, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a paediatrician from Gaza and former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
The letter opens, “My name is Elias Hussam Abu Safiya. I am the son of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya from Gaza.”
He describes his father as “a paediatrician who devoted his life to caring for babies and children in Gaza.”
According to the letter, Dr Abu Safiya remained at Kamal Adwan Hospital as many others were forced to leave.
“He remained with his patients when many people were forced to leave. He stayed because the children had no one else.”
Elias says his father was taken by the Israeli army in December 2024. Since then, he writes, the family has lived with daily fear amid reports that Dr Abu Safiya is unwell and being held in harsh conditions.
“We hear that he is sick, injured, losing weight, and being held in very difficult conditions.”
The letter says the family does not know whether he is receiving the medical care he needs and has been denied regular contact with him.
Elias places his father’s detention within the wider devastation facing Gaza’s healthcare system and Palestinian families.
“My father’s story is the story of Gaza today.”
He continues, “Our hospitals have been destroyed. Our colleagues have been detained and killed. Our children have suffered beyond words.”
His letter now sits alongside a coalition open letter to the Royal College, endorsed by 15 UK NGOs, healthcare and child health organisations, and signed by more than 2,500 people, calling for urgent action for Dr Abu Safiya and all detained Palestinian healthcare workers.
Together, the letters place a clear demand before the College: raise your voice, intervene, and do not allow a fellow paediatrician to be forgotten.
About Us
Care in Conflict is a platform of healthcare professionals, created by UKHPRC a petitions effort advoctating for ethical action in Palestine.
We try to bring together healthcare workers from across all disciplines of healthcare to uphold the duty of care, defend medical neutrality, and call for accountability where international humanitarian law is violated in Palestine.
Through coordinated petitions, policy engagement, and public advocacy, we ensure that the voices of healthcare workers are heard when the rights of patients and medical staff are under attack.
The Crisis in Gaza
The ongoing blockade, mass displacement, targeting of hospitals, and weaponisation of starvation in Gaza has created a catastrophic humanitarian emergency.
Medical workers, including paediatricians and primary care providers, are being killed, detained, and obstructed in their duty of care.
So far we have achieved...
20
Total Petitions
12000+
Signatures
144
Organisors
Our Calls to Action
- Public Advocacy: Issue a formal statement calling for the immediate release of Dr Abu Safiya and all healthcare workers held without charge in Israeli Army detention centres and prisons.
- Professional Pressure: Contact the Israeli Medical Association and the Israeli Paediatric Association to demand they intervene to secure the prisoners' release.
- Contact other national Paediatric Associations as well as World Medical Association to ask they too intervene urgently in this alarming and disconcerting matter.
- Diplomatic Engagement: Contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Foreign Secretary , and Middle Eastern minister to demand they also intervene to secure the release of Dr Abu Safia and the other Healthcare worker prisoners .
- The RCPCH’s silence to date on this matter, including the decision not to sign the January 2025 International Paediatric Association appeal, must be rectified. The voice of this College carries significant weight; and could save a fellow paediatrician’s life.
- Dr Abu Safiya stayed behind with his patients and the local community, in the best traditions of physicians serving their patients, when the world turned away. He did so to ensure that no child died alone or without care. Now, it is our turn to ensure he is not forgotten.
Past Petitions
- Paediatric and Child Health Professionals Petition to RCPCH – Calls for actions to protect children in Gaza, evacuation and treatment abroad and in the UK.
- Sister Organisation Surgical Petition to Royal Colleges (SPRC) – Surgical professionals petition to the surgical Royal Colleges in England, Ireland, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
- Primary Care Arm Petition – Petitioning to RCGP with over 2,000 signatories achieved within the first week of launch.
Leading UKHPRC petitions include the Paediatric and Child Health Arm Petition to the RCPCH – Calls for actions to protect children rights in Gaza; and the Primary Care Arm Petition to the RCGP calling for protection of civilian population and healthcare infrastructure.
- Surgical Petition to Royal Colleges (SPRC) – Surgical professionals petition to the surgical Royal Colleges in England, Ireland (RCSI), Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
- UK Dental Petitions to Royal Colleges (UKDPRC) – Dental professionals' petition to dental faculties across Royal Colleges; achieved over 1,000 signatories in its first week
Current
URGENT: Appeal for Intervention Regarding the Detention and Torture of Paediatrician, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya
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