Gaza Strip.- Monday’s release of the director of Gaza’s largest hospital, detained by Israel for more than seven months without charge, was welcomed by Palestinian and human rights groups but sparked an uproar across the Israeli political spectrum and highlighted growing tensions among government officials.
Mohammad Abu Salmiya headed the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, one of the first flashpoints of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. He was arrested in late November while travelling with a UN ambulance convoy evacuating patients from the hospital in southern Gaza, and was detained at an Israeli checkpoint, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Israeli military later released some evidence in support of its claim that Hamas operated from inside the Shifa compound, including by showing journalists a fortified tunnel built beneath its grounds. An investigation by The New York Times suggested that Hamas had used the site as a safe house and stored weapons there.
The release of Dr. Abu Salmiya appeared to stun Israeli officials. Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right minister in charge of national security, called the doctor’s release “security negligence” and blamed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet intelligence agency chief Ronen Bar for policies he said contradicted government decisions.
Mr. Gallant’s office evaded responsibility, issuing a statement saying the release of the detainees “is not subject to the approval of the Defense Minister.” The Israeli Prison Service said in a statement that the decision had been made by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet, but the military said Dr. Abu Salmiya had not been in its custody.
Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the decision. In a statement on Monday, he called the release of the hospital director an “egregious mistake and moral failure,” saying that neither he nor other key authorities were informed and that those responsible should be jailed.
To calm growing anger, Netanyahu said he was studying the decision and expected responses from Mr. Bar of the Shin Bet late on Monday. He also said he would set up a team of security and military officials to investigate the detainees before their release.
Benny Gantz, a centrist minister who resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet in early June, suggested to Mr. Netanyahu in a statement on Monday: “Prime Minister, if you close some government offices, I am sure that space and funds will be freed up for prisons.”
Mr. Gantz took the opportunity to call elections, once again.
On Monday, at a news conference in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a visibly frail Dr. Abu Salmiya said that nearly 50 other Palestinian detainees, including other doctors and Health Ministry staff members, had also been released and returned to Gaza.
“We were subjected to extreme torture,” said Dr. Abu Salmiya. He said he had been repeatedly hit on the head and had a finger broken.
Human rights groups have said Dr Abu Salmiya’s prolonged detention without charge is an example of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, and his release comes as the Israeli Supreme Court is considering a petition demanding the closure of an army barracks-turned-prison, Sde Teiman, where thousands of Gazans have been detained since the war began last year.
It was not clear whether Dr. Abu Salmiya had previously been held at Sde Teiman. He was released from another prison, Nafha, according to the Israeli Prison Service.
However, a statement from Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, addressed the controversy surrounding Sde Teiman in a statement on Monday explaining the doctor’s release. The statement noted that the decision had been made to hold detainees at Sde Teiman only for short periods of time, and said that this made it necessary to “release dozens of detainees to clear places of incarceration.” The statement said the Shin Bet had warned elected officials “in all possible forums” that it needed more space “in view of the need to detain terrorists.”
The Gaza Health Ministry called for the release of all other detained Gaza medical workers who were “arrested and mistreated simply because they were treating the sick and wounded.”
At least 310 Gaza medical workers have been detained by Israeli forces since the start of the war, but it did not specify how many had been released, the ministry said.
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