The release on Monday of the director of Gaza’s largest hospital after more than seven months of being held without charge in Israel was welcomed by Palestinians and human rights groups but caused an uproar across Israeli political circles and exposed growing tensions among government officials.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya was director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the early epicenter of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, when he was detained in late November while accompanying a UN ambulance convoy evacuating patients from the hospital to southern Gaza, where it was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The Israeli military subsequently released several pieces of evidence to support its claim that Hamas was operating within the Shifa compound, including showing reporters fortified tunnels that had been built on the site, which a New York Times investigation suggested Hamas had used as a hideout and stored weapons there.
Dr. Abu Salmiya’s release appeared to take Israeli authorities by surprise. The far-right minister for national security, Itamar Ben Gvir, called the doctor’s release a “security negligence” and accused Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Shin Bet intelligence chief Ronen Bar of pursuing policies that contradicted the government’s decision.
Gallant’s office avoided responsibility, issuing a statement saying the release of detainees “does not require the approval of the Minister of Defense.” The Israel Prisons Service said in a statement that the decision was made by the Israeli army and Israeli police, but the army said Dr. Abu Salmiya had not been detained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also distanced himself from the decision. In a statement on Monday, he called the release of the hospital director a “gross mistake and a moral lapse,” said he and other key officials were not informed and said whoever was responsible should be jailed.
Netanyahu sought to calm growing anger and said the decision was being investigated and he expected to receive a response from Shin Bet’s Baal later on Monday. He also said a team of security and military officials would be set up to screen the detainees before their release.
Benny Gantz, a centrist minister who resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet in early June, suggested to Netanyahu in a statement on Monday: “Prime Minister, I am confident that if you close down government agencies, we will have the space and the funds for prisons.”
Gantz used the opportunity to call for new elections.
Speaking at a press conference in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Monday, a visibly frail Dr. Abu Salmiya said around 50 other Palestinian detainees, including other doctors and health ministry staff, had also been released and returned to Gaza.
“We were subjected to severe torture,” said Dr. Abu Salmiya, who said he was hit multiple times on the head and had his fingers broken.
Rights groups say Abu Salmiya’s long detention without charge is an example of Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, and his release comes as Israel’s Supreme Court is considering a petition to close Sde Teyman, a military barracks-turned prison where thousands of Gazans have been detained since war broke out last year.
It was not immediately clear whether Dr. Abu Salmiya had been previously held at Sde Teyman prison. The Israel Prisons Service said he had been released from another prison, Nafha.
But the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, mentioned the controversy over Sde Teyman in a statement Monday explaining the doctors’ release. The statement noted that a decision had been made to hold those held at Sde Teyman only for a short period of time, which “made it necessary to release several dozen detainees to free up space.” The statement said the Shin Bet had warned elected officials “in all possible fora” that more space was needed “in light of the need to arrest terrorists.”
Gaza’s Ministry of Health called for the release of all detained medical workers from Gaza who were “arrested and mistreated solely for treating the sick and wounded.”
The ministry said at least 310 medical workers in the Gaza Strip have been held by Israeli forces since the start of the war, but did not say how many had been released.
Jonathan Rice Contributed report.
