Since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on October 7, thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured. Israel responded by waging a bombing campaign and imposing a total siege on the neighbouring Gaza Strip, putting the region on the verge of all-out war.
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Israel admits that the director of Al-Shifa Hospital was detained in Gaza.
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, has been taken into custody, according to confirmation from the Israel Securities Authority and the Israel Defense Forces.
"The director of the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip was apprehended and transferred for ISA questioning following evidence showing that the Shifa Hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control center," the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in statement issued on Thursday. "In addition to using resources and electricity stolen from the hospital, the Hamas terror tunnel network was located beneath the facility. Furthermore, Hamas kept a large number of weapons on the hospital's property and within its walls."
Following the Oct. 7 attack, the IDF and the ISA claimed that Hamas militants "sought refuge within the hospital, some of them taking hostages from Israel with them." Additionally, according to the IDF and the ISA, a "pathological report" verifies that 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, died on the grounds of Al-Shifa Hospital.
"There was extensive Hamas terrorist activity in the hospital, under his management," the IDF and the ISA declared regarding Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital. "Findings of his involvement in terrorist activity will determine whether he will be subject to further ISA questioning."
Israel claims that Hamas, the militant organization that controls Gaza, has positioned its command centers beneath Al-Shifa and other hospitals within the enclave and is purposefully hiding behind Palestinian civilians. Hamas has refuted these claims.
