Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was among the over 240 people arrested at Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds in Northern Gaza, by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday. Among those arrested were 15 terrorists that were part of the October 7, 2023 atrocities committed by Palestinian terrorists against the Jewish state where over 1,200 people were raped, tortured and murdered, 250 more were kidnapped and thousands were injured.
Safiya and his staff were arrested on the suspicion of being “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” He repeatedly criticized the IDF in opinion pieces he wrote for the New York Times. According to the New York Post, one of Safiya’s last articles for The Grey Lady was published earlier this month in which he discussed his work at the hospital.
According to the IDF, the hospital, like many others in Gaza, was being used by terrorists to escape Israel’s bombardments in northern Gaza against their bases.
The Israeli military described the hospital as “Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia,” which had previously been cleared by the IDF in October after Safiya’s predecessor was arrested and admitted to being a Hamas commander. Before the raid, the Israeli military evacuated 350 patients, caregivers and staffers in the hospital.
Weapons were found in the hospital and a rocket was fired from the building. 19 terrorists were killed in the operation to clear the building.
After his arrest, multiple Palestinian media outlets referred to Safiya as a Colonel in the Gaza Strip's Military Medical Services. He has also been referred to using the title by the government of Gaza and its military, which is currently Hamas. The government also described Kamal Adwan Hospital as a military hospital.
Safiya celebrated the Oct 7 massacre, writing on Facebook with a picture of the paragliders Hamas used to carry out the attacks, "And they thought their fortresses would protect them from God, but God came upon them from where they did not expect, and cast terror into their hearts."
He has also posted pictures of Palestinian terrorists writing, "O Allah, protect our people in the West Bank in general and in Jenin in particular, and protect the beloved people of Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque from the oppression and aggression of the Jews," and "O Allah, we place You before them, and we seek refuge in You from their evil. O Allah, turn their plots against them and make their destruction in their schemes. O Allah, protect the Jenin refugee camp from the plots of the criminals."
This was not the first time The New York Times has been embroiled in controversy over alleged ties by its contributors to Hamas. It was revealed in November 2023 that journalists freelancing for the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times were embedded with Hamas as they massacred Israeli civilians on October 7. The AP, Reuters, and CNN cut ties with the freelancers, but The Times denied the allegations and demonized those who made them, claiming “We are gravely concerned that unsupported accusations and threats to freelancers endangers them and undermines work that serves the public interest."
