Israeli army arrests al-Shifa Hospital director, other doctors in Gaza
Director Muhammad Abu Salmiya and several other medical personnel detained as Israel continues its Gaza offensive.
The Israeli army has arrested the director of al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, according to a doctor and media reports.
Muhammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other “senior doctors”, Khalid Abu Samra, a department chief at the hospital, told the AFP news agency on Thursday.
The arrest was also reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Al-Shifa Hospital has been a major focus of Israel’s ground offensive in northern Gaza.
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.
On Wednesday, the UN’s humanitarian office said the Israeli army “obstructed” a convoy of ambulances transporting 190 wounded and sick patients from al-Shifa Hospital to the south, resulting in the journey taking almost 20 hours.
The lengthy delay at the Israeli military checkpoint dividing north and south Gaza put “the lives of the wounded and sick people in danger”, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
The medical service has earlier said that 14 of its ambulances, two UN buses and other vehicles were involved in the evacuation of the patients, as well as “a number of medical teams” from al-Shifa Hospital.
The PRCS said three paramedics and a companion of one of the wounded patients were detained for more than three hours in the cold, while the patients were transferred to hospitals in the south.
