Dear President, Officers, and Members of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 

My name is Elias Hussam Abu Safiya. 

I am the son of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya from Gaza. I am writing to you about my father, a paediatrician who devoted his life to caring for babies and children in Gaza. He served as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. He remained with his patients when many people were forced to leave. He stayed because the children had no one else. My father was taken by the Israeli army in December 2024. 

Since then, our family has lived with fear every day. We hear that he is sick, injured, losing weight, and being held in very difficult conditions. We do not know whether he is receiving the medical care he needs, and we have been denied the comfort of regular contact with him. My father’s story is the story of Gaza today. What has happened to him has happened to countless Palestinian families. 

We are living through genocide, occupation, apartheid, and blockade. Our hospitals have been destroyed. Our colleagues have been detained and killed. Our children have suffered beyond words. I write to you not only as a son, but also as a son of a fellow clinician. I ask you, with respect, not to leave my father alone. 

As fellow paediatricians and fellow doctors, you understand the responsibility we carry towards children and towards our patients. My father carried this responsibility with honour and with patience, even after losing his own son and despite suffering injuries himself. He continued his work because he believed that every child deserved care, dignity, and mercy. 

I respectfully ask the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to raise its voice for my father. Please call for his release, for immediate access to independent medical care, and for his right to communicate with his family and legal representatives.  Hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers have been detained, and many remain imprisoned without charge. 

I ask you to raise your voice for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and for all our health worker colleagues who have been taken while carrying out their duty to care for the sick and the wounded. 

I am reaching out directly to paediatric associations and societies around the world, asking them to intervene and to stand with their colleagues in Palestine by raising their voices for my father and for all detained Palestinian healthcare workers. 

I also ask you to stand with him as a fellow paediatrician and as a man who dedicated his life to children. At a time when hospitals are being destroyed and healthcare workers are being detained and killed, your voice carries great weight. We are a Palestinian family asking for justice and for mercy. 

We ask you not to forget my father, and not to forget the children of Gaza. Please raise your voice for him before it is too late. Yours sincerely, 

Elias, Son of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya 

Gaza, Palestine 

15 - June - 2026