GAZA, Palestine
The director of Gaza's largest hospital was arrested by Israeli forces, according to a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Other doctors were also
arrested alongside Al-Shifa Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya,
spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said Thursday.
Abu Salmiya was reportedly
arrested while evacuating with a World Health Organization convoy, an ER doctor
inside Al-Shifa told Al-Jazeera News, citing doctors accompanying the director.
Responding to a CNN request
for comment, the IDF would not confirm the arrest of Abu Salmiya, but said he
"needs to be questioned."
"He was in constant state
of denial saying it doesn't happen. How could a General Manager of the hospital
not know about the extent of the tunnel system?" Lt. Col. Peter Lerner
told CNN's Max Foster.
"We need to see exactly
what he can share with us about his knowledge," the IDF spokesperson went
on to say.
Last week, the IDF launched
what it called a "precise and targeted" operation against Hamas
inside Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly accused
Hamas of using the hospital for military purposes, which Hamas and hospital
officials deny.
Abu Salmiya warned during the
IDF's operation of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis inside the hospital,
as hundreds of wounded people, dozens of premature babies and thousands of
displaced people were caught up in the fighting.
"The children are
starving, and here I mean the displaced children because they need milk and
there is no water to make milk for them," Abu Salmiya said last week.
He accused the "Israeli
occupation" of besieging the hospital, sabotaging sections and roaming
within its premises.
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