Israel arrests director of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, who denied Hamas presence

“Dr Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested, along with several other senior doctors,” Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the al-Shifa hospital, told AFP on Thursday, local time.

Israeli Broadcasting Authority has also reported on the arrests. And the Israeli publication Haaretz, citing an IDF source, says Dr Abu Salmiya was arrested while in the humanitarian corridor heading towards the south of Gaza.

Officially, the IDF has yet to confirm his arrest.

Dr Abu Salmiya, in addition to being al-Shifa hospital’s director, is chairman of the Gaza Strip’s emergency committee. He has been a prominent voice in the international media since Israel began its military operation in response to Hamas’s atrocities on October 7.

During those media appearances, he has repeatedly highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and strain on its hospitals – while unambiguously denying Israel’s claim that al-Shifa hospital acted as, or stood atop, a command centre for Hamas militants.

“Doctor I wanted to ask you to address, directly, one of the main allegations about your hospital, al-Shifa hospital, and that is that you’re over the top of, or part of, a Hamas base,” he was asked during an interview with America’s BreakThrough News on November 9, for example.

“This is pure slander,” Dr Abu Salmiya responded.

“Al-Shifa is the largest hospital in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The largest hospital that includes all medical specialties – the largest nursery, the largest ICU, the largest dialysis department. And people come from all over the Gaza Strip.

“Even now, in this war, when the representatives of the International Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations visit us, they all come to al-Shifa. I do not think that, if it were a military base, such delegations could come to the hospital.

“I do not think these people are sacrificing themselves coming to a Hamas military base. This accusation is totally unacceptable.

“Not to mention that I asked, in more than one press conference, for any international organisation or any human rights organisation, or even any party specified by the occupation (by which he meant Israel) to come to our hospital. Search through our entire hospital, all its corridors, from top to bottom. All rooms will be open.

“If there is a Hamas base, let the occupation do whatever the occupation wants. But this is a civil hospital that serves the wounded people.”

Israel has accused the hospital’s medical staff, as well as international aid organisations, of being complicit in hiding Hamas’s military presence in the hospital.

Since taking control of al-Shifa, it has presented evidence of militant activity, including security footage of hostages being transported through the building’s corridors at gunpoint, weapons it said were left behind by Hamas, and footage of underground tunnels the IDF believes were part of the terrorist group’s vast network.

“It is important to emphasise that from the moment the IDF publicly exposed the use of hospitals for terrorist activity a few weeks ago, Hamas has persistently worked to conceal infrastructure and cover up evidence,” an IDF spokesman said last week.

Hamas has long been known to hide among Gaza’s civilian population, and Israel alleges it uses structures like schools and hospitals as cover – a “human shield” strategy.

Temporary ceasefire delayed

Meanwhile there has been a delay in the implementation of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which will see some hostages released from Gaza in exchange for five days without fighting.

A Palestinian official told AFP on Thursday that the delay was due to confusion over “last minute” details, namely which hostages would be released and how.

The truce had been widely expected to go into effect on Thursday, but has now been pushed back to Friday.

Lists of the hostages to be freed had been exchanged by both sides, the Palestinian official said, citing his knowledge of the negotiations but asking to remain anonymous.

It was unclear whether the Red Cross would have access to the hostages before their release into Egypt, and whether it would be able to care for those who remained behind.

Qatar, which has acted as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, will announce when the ceasefire will go into effect “in co-ordination with the Egyptians and Americans”, who have also been heavily involved in the negotiations.

The deal will see an initial 50 hostages released by Hamas – about a fifth of the 239 it still holds – with 150 Palestinian prisoners let go by Israel in return.

All of those to be freed under the three-to-one ratio are either women or aged under 19.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said on Thursday that the negotiations were “continuing and progressing positively”, with the timing of the temporary pause set to be announced “within the next few hours”.