Khaled Abu Samra, a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, confirmed the arrest of Muhammad Abu Salamiya, director of the institution currently under the control of the Israeli army.
Abu Samra explained, “The Israeli army arrested the director of the Al-Shifa Complex, Muhammad Abu Salamiya, and a number of medical personnel tonight.”
Abu Salamiya told Agence France-Presse that he received an “order” to evacuate the hospital on November 18 after he had rejected a previous similar order.
After turning it into a military target and besieging it with tanks for several days, the Israeli army stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City last week.
The hospital became the focus of accusations of war crimes, as the Palestinians accused Israel of targeting hospitals and Israel said the sites were being used to shelter militants.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army displayed a fortified tunnel near the hospital that included a bathroom, a kitchen, and an air-conditioned meeting room, saying it was a command center for Hamas fighters.
The entrance to the tunnel, which is about two meters high, can be reached through an external opening in the ground of the hospital complex, which was once crowded with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, before they were forced to leave.
Elad Tsouri, the commander of an Israeli armored division that discovered the tunnel, said: “This is how they survived because they use the hospital as a human shield to protect them. Here they can stay for a long time. There is an air-conditioned room inside.”
2023-11-23 07:22:38
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