Head of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, Other Doctors Detained by ‘Israeli’ Military

By Staff, Agencies

The Zionist army arrested the director of al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, according to a doctor and media reports.

Muhammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other “senior doctors,” Khalid Abu Samra, a department chief at the hospital, told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

The arrest was also reported by the ‘Israeli’ Broadcasting Authority, and was confirmed in a post on the social media platform X by Salmiya’s cousin, Adham Abu Salmiya.

Gaza’s ministry of health said it wants an explanation from the World Health Organization, as medics were travelling in a WHO convoy with patients when they were stopped and detained by ‘Israeli’ forces.

“The World Health Organization has not yet sent us any report to explain the situation including the numbers and names of those detained,” said Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the health ministry. “The inability to contact al-Shifa means we don’t know who has been arrested … There’s a chance some of those detainees will be killed. We know the occupation forces are capable of that.”

He said the ministry has decided to stop coordination with the WHO regarding evacuations until they send them a report explaining what happened.