Israeli courts deny release of 14 Gaza doctors and independent exam for Abu Safiya

LONDON: Two Israeli courts have rejected petitions seeking the release of 14 Palestinian doctors detained without charge or trial and an independent medical examination for a Gaza hospital director, Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court dismissed the group’s petition to release the doctors, including hospital directors and specialists, saying they found no grounds to intervene in the military chief of staff’s decision to keep them in detention.

In a separate ruling last month, the Lod District Court denied a request for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, to undergo an independent medical examination and obtain a second opinion.