Israel says the hospital director is being questioned as the World Health Organization expresses concerns about the safety of dozens still in the facility.
The World Health Organization expressed its concern about the fate of the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, who was arrested by Israel this week.
The World Health Organization said in a statement on Friday that the director of the largest hospital in the besieged Palestinian territories was arrested on Wednesday along with five other health workers while participating in a United Nations mission to evacuate patients.
The World Health Organization said: “Three medical workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and three from the Ministry of Health were arrested.”
The statement added that since then, two of the six have been released, but “we have no information about the health of the remaining four health staff, including the director of Al-Shifa Hospital.”
The UN agency called for “their legal and human rights to be fully respected during their detention.”
An Israeli army spokesman said on Saturday that Abu Salamiya was being investigated.
“We are currently moving forward with…interrogating him about the fact that he was the head of a hospital who was actually sitting at the head of an entire terrorist network,” IDF spokesman Doron Spielman said.
“How could he not know what was happening? We have hostages that were, you know, on surveillance cameras at the hospital.”
The Israeli army, which raided the hospital last week, claimed that Hamas fighters used the tunnel complex under Shifa Hospital as a command center — an assertion that Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied. Israel did not provide any evidence to support its claims.
Concern for the remaining patients
Abu Salamiya was frequently quoted by international media as making statements about conditions inside Al-Shifa Hospital, a major hub for Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks following attacks by Hamas fighters on October 7.
A week ago, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of Al-Shifa Hospital, which was housing 7,000 people, including sick and displaced Palestinians. But dozens of patients who could not be transported remained inside with a small number of paramedics.
The World Health Organization said that it carried out three hospital evacuation missions within a week, and on one occasion was able to transfer 31 children from the hospital.
During the third mission, on Wednesday, which was carried out in cooperation with the Palestinian Red Crescent, 151 people were evacuated, including patients, their relatives and health care workers, according to the World Health Organization.
A World Health Organization spokesman said on Friday that the UN agency was working on more evacuations from hospitals in northern Gaza as soon as possible with the truce taking effect, expressing concerns for the safety of those remaining at Shifa Hospital.
“We are very concerned about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at Shifa Hospital,” said Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman.
He refused to respond to comments from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which said it would suspend cooperation with the World Health Agency amid reports that Israel was detaining medical staff for interrogation.
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