Current:Home > InvestIsraeli military detains director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital -Momentum Wealth Path
Israeli military detains director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital
View
Date:2025-04-13 09:10:39
The director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory, was arrested Thursday by Israeli forces who said it was over the facility's alleged use by Hamas.
Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salamiya has been frequently quoted by international media about the conditions inside Al-Shifa, a major focus of an Israeli ground offensive following attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 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.
Palestinian health officials said Salmiya, another doctor and two nurses had been arrested.
- Israel-Hamas war rages with cease-fire delayed
The hospital director was held for questioning following "evidence showing that Shifa Hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control center," the Israeli military said in a statement.
There was "extensive Hamas terrorist activity" at the hospital while it was "under his management," it said, adding that a Hamas tunnel network used electricity and other resources from the facility.
Whether the director would be subject to further questioning would depend on whether he was found to have "involvement in terrorist activity," it said.
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 bodies to work towards their "immediate release".
On Thursday evening, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the Indonestian Hospital in Gaza City was "heavily bombarded."
"The generators were hit, as well as a significant part of the building," he said. "We are worried" about the patients and staff in the hospital, he added.
Qudra added that 180 patients and staff remained at Al-Shifa.
"We demand their evacuation," Qudra said. "They don't have any more electricity, food or water.
"The Israeli army shoots at the hospital and repeats over the loudspeaker that they must leave, threatening to bomb them," he said.
Al-Shifa hospital has seen extended Israeli special forces operations as part of Israel's war against Gaza militants, and on Wednesday, troops escorted journalists to a tunnel shaft at the complex which they said was part of a vast underground network used by Hamas.
Instructions to evacuate the hospital were issued on Saturday, prompting an exodus of hundreds of patients and displaced, with Salmiya telling AFP last week that he had received the evacuation order from Israeli forces.
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.
On Thursday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said it joined forces with the United Nations to evacuate a further 190 wounded and sick people, their companions and medical staff from Al-Shifa to other hospitals in southern Gaza.
The evacuation took nearly 20 hours due to delays at the checkpoint separating northern and southern Gaza, it said on social media, adding that three paramedics had been detained, two of whom were subsequently released.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza says nearly 15,000 people have been killed since the Israeli military campaign began, most of them women and children.
It started after Hamas gunmen poured across the border in an unprecedented attack on Oct. 7. Israeli officials say about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and around 240 taken hostage.
- In:
- Hamas
- Israel
- Gaza Strip
veryGood! (213)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Costco is cracking down on its food court. You now need to show your membership card to eat there.
- Supreme Court seems poised to reject abortion pill challenge after arguments over FDA actions
- Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after Wall Street retreats from all-time highs
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Suspect's release before Chicago boy was fatally stabbed leads to prison board resignations
- Brittany Mahomes Shares She's Struggling With Hives and Acne in New Makeup-Free Selfies
- Time, money, lost business are part of hefty price tag to rebuild critical Baltimore bridge
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Debunked: Aldi's bacon is not grown in a lab despite conspiracies on social media
Ranking
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce his VP pick for his independent White House bid
- Travelers through Maine’s biggest airport can now fly to the moon. Or, at least, a chunk of it
- Case against woman accused in death of adopted young son in Arizona dismissed, but could be refiled
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- A woman accuses a schoolmate of raping her at age 12. The school system says she is making it up.
- Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after being struck by cargo ship; 6 people still missing
- In a dark year after a deadly rampage, how a church gave Nashville's Covenant School hope
Recommendation
Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
Geoengineering Faces a Wave of Backlash Over Regulatory Gaps and Unknown Risks
Trader Joe's raises banana price for the first time in more than two decades
MLB's five most pivotal players to watch for 2024
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
Iowa attorney general not finished with audit that’s holding up contraception money for rape victims
Los Angeles Rams signing cornerback Tre'Davious White, a two-time Pro Bowler
South Carolina has $1.8 billion but doesn’t know where the money came from or where it should go