Israel detains director of one of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals during raid
Gaza’s health ministry said Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was arrested on Friday along with dozens of other staff
Israel’s army detained the director of one of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals as overnight strikes elsewhere in the territory killed nine people, including children, Palestinian medical officials said on Saturday. Israel’s military alleged that Hamas militants were using the facility and said more than 240 people were detained.
Israel’s military on Saturday confirmed it detained the hospital director for questioning and called him a suspected Hamas operative while providing no evidence. It said it encircled the hospital and special forces entered and found weapons in the area. It said militants fired on its forces and they were “eliminated”. An Israeli military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, later told journalists that most of those detained are Hamas operatives.
In a statement on Saturday, Hamas urged the United Nations and relevant international agencies to intervene urgently to protect the remaining hospitals and medical facilities in northern Gaza and supply them.
The group also called for UN observers to be sent to medical facilities in Gaza to refute the Israeli allegations that they were being used for military purposes.
On Friday, the military denied it had entered or set fire to the hospital complex but acknowledged it had ordered people outside. The military repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan, which hospital officials have denied.
