Israel releases clinic director from Gaza
Israel releases dozens of Palestinians, among them the leader of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Mohammed Abu Salmija accuses Israeli authorities of "severe torture" in detention. The detainees were allegedly subjected to all types of torture.
Israel has released the leader of Al-Shifa Hospital in the city of Gaza and dozens of other detained Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Abu Salmija accused Israel of being subjected to "severe torture" and suffering a broken hand. "The prisoners were subjected to all types of torture," the clinic leader said at a press conference. "Many prisoners died in detention centers and received no food or medication." For two months, none of the detainees had eaten more than a loaf of bread a day. The detainees were also subjected to physical and psychological humiliation, Abu Salmija added. No charges have been filed against him.
Abu Salmija was arrested by Israeli forces during an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and spent more than seven months in detention. The Israeli internal security service Shin Bet stated that Abu Salmija and the other detainees were released in coordination with the army to "create space in detention facilities." They were not "terrorists" involved in attacks on Israeli civilians, but rather Palestinians, among whom "a lesser danger" existed. Israel's Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared on the X online platform that the release of Salmija and "dozens of other terrorists" was a "surrender to security."
Israel accuses the radical Islamic Hamas of using civilians as human shields and civilian institutions such as hospitals and schools for their infrastructure, including as command centers and weapons storage - among them the Al-Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military claims to have found tunnels and other Hamas infrastructure there. The Hamas denies this.
From the hospital in the center of the Gaza Strip, it was reported that Salmija and dozens of other released Palestinians were taken to medical facilities in the Gaza Strip for examination. The European hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip announced that the head of its orthopedics department had also been released.
Islamist fighters from Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups launched a unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli reports, 1195 people were brutally killed and 251 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip as a result. In response to the attack, Israel has been conducting massive military operations in the Gaza Strip since then. According to the health ministry controlled by Hamas on Sunday, a total of 37,900 people have been killed since then. (independent verification of these numbers cannot be guaranteed)
The release of Abu Salmija, the hospital leader, and other Palestinians is a topic of discourse in Gaza politics following their allegations of severe torture during detention in Israel. After their release, many of the detainees, including the head of the orthopedics department at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, required medical attention due to the torture they endured.
