Israeli forces arrested the director and several medical personnel of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, on Thursday. The Israeli army claims that Hamas uses a tunnel complex under the hospital to stage attacks.
The facility’s director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday, according to a doctor at Gaza’s largest hospital Al-Shifa.
The director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, has been frequently quoted by international media about the conditions inside Al-Shifa, a major focus of an Israeli ground offensive following attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.
The Israeli army, which raided the hospital last week, has alleged that Hamas fighters used a tunnel complex beneath the facility in Gaza City to stage attacks.
Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied the claims.
An official in the health ministry in Gaza specified that one other doctor and two nurses had been detained in addition to the hospital director.
In a statement, Hamas said it “strongly denounces” the arrest of Salmiya and his colleagues, calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organizations to work towards their “immediate release.”
Instructions to evacuate the hospital were issued on Saturday, prompting the exodus of hundreds of patients and displaced towards the supposedly safer south of the Palestinian territory.
Salmiya said last week that he had received the evacuation order from Israeli forces after having refused a previous one.
But the Israeli army said the evacuations were carried out at the “request” of Salmiya.
The military released an audio recording presented as a conversation between Salmiya and a senior Israeli officer in which the two men blame each other for the evacuation.
Katrine Dige Houmøller, with AFP
