The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has affirmed the arrest of the Director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Muhammad Abu Salmiya.
The army said in a statement that Salmiya was arrested and transferred to the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) for questioning following “evidence showing that the hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control centre.”
“The Hamas terror tunnel network situated under the hospital also exploited electricity and resources taken from the hospital. In addition, Hamas stored numerous weapons inside the hospital and on the hospital grounds,” the statement said.
“After the Hamas massacre on October 7, Hamas terrorists sought refuge within the hospital, some of them taking hostage from Israel with them,” the statement added.
“In the hospital, under his management, there was extensive Hamas terrorist activity. Findings of his involvement in terrorist activity will determine whether he will be subject to further ISA questioning.”
Israeli army
The IDF also re-released the statement made by Israeli military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari on Thursday, where he said “Now, the irrefutable truth of Hamas’ exploitation of hospitals in Gaza is on full display to the world.”
“We have an important question to ask the international community: what will you do to stop Gaza’s hospitals from being turned into terror bases in the future? Will you condemn Hamas? Or will you continue to be silent? Will you remain silent? I want to make it clear that Israel is at war with Hamas. We are not at war with the people of Gaza.”
Daniel Hagari
“Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors,” Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the hospital, told a news agency.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also confirmed the arrest.
A spokesperson for the Health Ministry in Gaza disclosed that the Director of al-Shifa Hospital, was en route from the northern Gaza Strip to the south with other medics when he was arrested by Israeli forces.
Spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra stated that Gaza’s Health Ministry has decided to stop coordination with the World Health Organization in evacuating wounded people and medical staff.
Al-Qudra said Israel and the UN bear responsibility for the arrest of medical personnel, adding that Israeli forces dealt violently with medical staff and patients.
Hamas condemned the arrest and called on international organisations to work to release the Director and the medics immediately.
“We consider it a despicable act that only comes from an entity that lacks all sense of humanity and morals, in addition to being a crime and a flagrant violation of international conventions that guarantee no attacks against medical personnel at all times,” Hamas said in a statement.
Palestinian health minister, Mai Al-Kayla noted that the arrests showed that Israel was flouting international humanitarian law.
Al-Kayla is a Minister for the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, which has no control over the health system in Gaza.
Gaza’s health system has been governed by Hamas since 2007.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said that Israeli forces have arrested 90 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Thursday night, 36 of them from the village of Azzun east of Qalqilya and the Arroub refugee camp.
Among those arrested are former prisoners.
3,130 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
300 Hamas Targets Struck
Also, Israeli forces disclosed that their air force has struck more than 300 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip within one day.
The targets include “military command centres, underground terror tunnels, weapon storage facilities, weapon manufacturing sites, and
anti-tank missile launch posts”, Israeli army said in a post on X.
Besides pounding Gaza from the air, the Israeli army also continued its offensive on the ground.
Meanwhile, fighting ensued on the Israel-Lebanon border, with Israeli Army Radio announcing that several air force planes bombed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The bombing targeted the outskirts of the towns of Kfar Shuba, Halta, and al-Jebin.
Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers around al-Marj, causing an unknown number of casualties.
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