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ReutersIsrael has confirmed that it is arresting the head of the Gaza hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, after he previously told a local NGO that it was unaware of his case, sparking concerns about his health.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that “he is currently being investigated by the Israeli army” in person.
The statement did not elaborate on the cause of the disturbance but reiterated its suspicion of “terror” and “responsibility” for Hamas, the Palestinian militant group fighting Israel in Gaza.
Dr Abu Safiya was arrested when Israeli forces forced patients and medical staff to leave the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza last Friday, calling the site a “Hamas stronghold”.
On Thursday the IDF told Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) that it “has no indication of the arrest or detention of the person in question”.
PHRI submitted a request to Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday, to find out the whereabouts of Dr Abu Safiya. It said the court had given the IDF a week to comply.
Meanwhile, Amnesty director Agnès Callamard said the Israeli authorities should “reveal their whereabouts”.
He said Israel had arrested “hundreds of Palestinian health workers from Gaza without charge or trial” and said they had been “tortured and tortured and held in illegal prisons”.
Israel denies torturing detainees.
Dr Abu Safiya’s family previously told BBC Arabic that they believe he is being held at the Sde Teiman military prison in southern Israel, where Israeli forces have taken dozens of prisoners from Gaza for interrogation.
Whistleblowers have told the BBC and other international media that very difficult conditions for detainees There. Israel says all those detained there are being held “carefully and properly”.
The IDF ordered everyone inside the Kamal Adwan hospital to leave on Friday morning, giving the hospital 15 minutes to evacuate patients and staff, medical staff told the BBC.
Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, has been under siege by Israel in northern Gaza since October. The UN has said the area is “virtually” surrounded as the Israeli army severely restricts access to aid in the area where about 10,000 to 15,000 people remain.
ReutersOn Saturday, the IDF said it had captured 240 fighters in Kamal Adwan and that Dr Abu Safiya was one of the medical workers who had been questioned.
Footage showed him walking towards an Israeli military vehicle before being questioned. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the arrest the same day, saying the doctor had been transferred for questioning.
Dr Abu Safiya was previously arrested by Israeli forces at the time of the hospital shooting in October, but was released shortly after. During the Israeli operation, Dr Abu Safiya, a 15-year-old boy, was killed in an airstrike. Pictures from the same day showed him leading his son’s funeral prayers in the hospital courtyard.
Israel’s attack on Gaza hospitals has drawn criticism.
On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office said that Israeli attacks on and around hospitals have continued Gaza’s health system “on the brink of total collapse” and raised serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Israeli mission in Geneva said the Israeli army was acting in accordance with international law and “will not attack innocent people”.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s actions in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were captured.
More than 45,580 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the region’s health ministry.
