No one is illegal? Not necessarily in Israel

TRANSLATION FROM THE HEBREW MEDIA:
No one is illegal? Not necessarily in Israel

By Yonatan Englender

From the Hebrew Haaretz Daily Summary
09 June 2026

Whoever wants to learn about the value of a society, let them go to where society’s dregs are, the orphanages, the prisons. The way a community treats its weakest and most oppressed reveals its true colours. Those who are proud of Tel Aviv as a capital of high-tech and progress, I invite to a tour of Neve Sha'anan, [where asylum seekers and the poorest of the poor congregate]. Those who celebrate national resilience, I invite to a visit among the [largely non-existent] shelters in Kiryat Shmona. And I invite anyone who says that Israel is a country of morality and the rule of law compared to its barbaric neighbours to the solitary confinement wing of Nafha prison, where Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, has been transferred.

Abu Safiya and 13 other doctors that Israel arrested in the Strip are being held in an Israeli prison without a trial, without an indictment being filed against them, and without a set term for their sentences. As Haaretz’s Nir Hasson writes, Abu Safiya's story is well-known around the world and receives media attention from human rights organisations. His son was killed, he himself was injured, lost many colleagues, but he insisted on staying in the hospital and treating the wounded that flowed into the hospital like water from the IDF bombings. Abu Safiya is not a combatant. He is a doctor. Yet he has been held as an “unlawful combatant” since December 2024. His crime, like that of many others, is being a Palestinian from Gaza, an offence punishable by at least imprisonment and, in tens of thousands of cases, death. Abu Safiya’s crime is particularly serious because he is a symbol of Palestinian suffering – a man who remains dedicated to his work and his people in an impossible situation. If there is one thing Israel hates, it is proud Palestinians.

The detention of Abu Safiya and other “unlawful combatants” is extended every six months by a district court. In April of this year, the Israeli organisation, Physicians for Human Rights, petitioned the High Court of Justice demanding the release of the doctors held in Israel, but this has not yet been heard. There is no rush, not even when there are reports of harsh prison conditions, medical deterioration, not to mention abuse by guards. This is a situation that Palestinians are expected to accept, and any appeal against it may result in punishment. Evidently, Abu Safiya was transferred to solitary confinement shortly after a lawyer representing him filed an appeal against his continued detention. "Solitary confinement is one of the harshest forms of imprisonment," Physicians for Human Rights told Hasson. "According to the UN's Mandela Rules, solitary confinement for more than 14 days can be considered cruel, inhumane treatment, and even torture." Arrest without authority, imprisonment without trial, isolation without explanation, and all under the auspices of an Israeli legal system that so many Israelis consider worthy of protection from attacks by the government.

The Israeli Prison Service told Haaretz that it “determines the place of detention of prisoners and detainees in accordance with professional, operational and security considerations.” So many things in this country are determined by operational considerations, so little by humanitarian considerations.

Far from Nafha Prison, a Tel Aviv court today sentenced Haim Sirotkin, who ran over five protesters at a demonstration for the abductees in Gaza that took place in the city in 2024, to a year in prison. Sirotkin is also not a combatant, he just knowingly ran over innocent people, but compared to Abu Safiya, he is legal – that is, he’s a Jew – and therefore deserves a lenient sentence. A Palestinian who ran over Jews would have been sentenced to much more than a year, had they even survived the scene. Judge Itai Hermelin ruled that Sirotkin deserves a lenient sentence, among other things, because he expressed remorse. I don’t know if Abu Safiya regrets his actions. I don’t think anyone has ever asked.

Translated by Sol Salbe