Director of Shifa Hospital is arrested by the IDF who say ‘extensive Hamas terrorist activity’ has taken place there during his time in charge
The director of Gaza’s largest hospital has been arrested by Israeli soldiers who say “extensive Hamas terrorist activities” took place at the medical facility during his time in charge.
Mohammad Abu Salmiya was detained for questioning over evidence that Shifa Hospital had been used as a command center by Hamas terrorists, the IDF said.
The Israeli army raided the hospital last week after claims that Hamas terrorists had used a tunnel complex under the medical center as a headquarters.
The IDF said today: ‘The director of Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip was detained and transferred for ISA interrogation after evidence showed that Shifa Hospital, under his direct control, functioned as a Hamas command and control center .
“Hamas’ terror tunnel network, located beneath the hospital, also used electricity and resources taken from the hospital.
“In addition, Hamas has stored numerous weapons in the hospital and on the hospital grounds.”
Mohammad Abu Salmiya (pictured) was detained for questioning over evidence that Shifa Hospital had been used as a command center by Hamas terrorists, the IDF said.
A soldier stands in what the Israeli army says is a tunnel dug by Hamas militants on Wednesday in the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.
An Israeli soldier climbs out of a tunnel that the army says was dug by Hamas militants in the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The IDF added: “In addition, after the October 7 Hamas massacre, Hamas terrorists took refuge in the hospital, some taking hostages from Israel.
‘A pathology report also confirmed the murder of CPL Noa Marciano on the hospital grounds.
‘Large-scale terrorist activities by Hamas took place in the hospital, which was under his leadership. The findings of his involvement in terrorist activities will determine whether he will be subject to further ISA interrogations.”
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Now the irrefutable truth about Hamas’ exploitation of hospitals in Gaza is on full display for the world to see.
“We must ask the international community an important question: what will you do to prevent Gaza’s hospitals from being turned into terror bases in the future?
‘Do you want to condemn Hamas? Or will you remain silent? Will you stay quiet? I want to make it clear that Israel is at war with Hamas. We are not at war with the people of Gaza.”
Earlier, Khalid Abu Samra, head of department at the hospital, had confirmed Salmiya’s arrest, claiming that he was arrested along with “several other senior soldiers.” The IDF statement referred only to Salmiya’s arrest.
“Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors,” Samra said.
An official from the Hamas-run Health Ministry told AFP that another doctor and two nurses had been arrested, as well as the hospital director.
In a statement, Hamas said it “strongly denounces” the arrest of Salmiya and his colleagues and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organizations to work for their “immediate release.”
Instructions to evacuate the hospital were issued on Saturday, prompting the exodus of hundreds of patients and displaced persons to the supposedly safer south of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli soldiers stand at the opening of a tunnel on the grounds of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday
Soldiers stand next to what the Israeli army says is the entrance to a tunnel dug by Hamas militants in the Al-Shifa hospital complex on Wednesday
A view of what the Israeli military says is an opening to a Hamas tunnel under a house near Al Shifa Hospital on Thursday
Soldiers walk through what the Israeli army says is a tunnel dug by Hamas militants in the Al-Shifa hospital complex on Wednesday
Weapons that the Israeli army says were left by Hamas militants at Al-Shifa hospital are on display at the medical complex in Gaza City on Wednesday
Weapons that the Israeli army says were left by Hamas militants at Al-Shifa hospital are on display at the medical complex in Gaza City on Wednesday
Israeli troops and military vehicles gather along a street during a military operation in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday
Salmiya said last week that he had received the evacuation order from Israeli forces after refusing an earlier order.
But the Israeli military said the evacuations were carried out at Salmiya’s “request.”
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 (PRCS) said it has joined forces with the United Nations to evacuate another 190 injured and sick people, their companions and medical staff from Al-Shifa to other hospitals in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The evacuation took almost 20 hours due to delays at the checkpoint separating northern and southern Gaza, X, formerly Twitter, said, adding that three paramedics were detained, two of whom were subsequently released.
On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers escorted journalists to a tunnel shaft near the hospital complex that they said was part of an extensive underground network used by Hamas.
Israeli officials allege that Hamas operated a command center in tunnels beneath the hospital for years — an accusation the Islamist movement and medical staff reject.
Al-Shifa Hospital has been the scene of an extensive Israeli Special Forces operation as part of the war against militants in the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas-led government says more than 14,000 people have been killed, most of them women and children.
It came after Hamas gunmen crossed the border in an unprecedented attack on October 7. Israeli officials say about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 240 were taken hostage.