The director of AlShifa Hospital in Gaza City has been arrested by Israel, a doctor reported, at a time when the site is under the control of the Israeli army, which claims it is after military facilities of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the health sector to search center.
“Doctor Mohamed Abu Salmiya was arrested along with other medical directors,” said Khaled Abu Samra, head of the hospital, which is one of the focal points of the Israeli operation in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 attack.
“Two nurses and another doctor were also arrested,” said a source in the Hamascontrolled health ministry in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army accuses Hamas of hiding an operations center at AlShifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, and soldiers have been inspecting the site for several days.
Several doctors told AFP that Israeli soldiers took them along during searches at the hospital and that these usually ended with the detonation of explosives on the ground and basement floors.
Before his arrest, Abu Salmiya told AFP that he had received orders from the Israeli army to evacuate the hospital.
Images of patients and staff leaving the health center dominated international news on November 18th.
The site housed 2,300 people, including patients, medical professionals and displaced people.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, strongly condemned the detention of the doctor and his colleagues in a statement.
“We call on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international organizations to work for his immediate release.”