Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during a raid
Gaza's Health Ministry says Israel’s army has detained the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — 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 Saturday. Israel's military alleged that Hamas militants were using the facility and said over 240 people were detained.
Gaza's Health Ministry said Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was arrested Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation center. The ministry said Israeli troops stormed the hospital and forced many staff and patients outside and told them to strip in winter weather, according to the ministry.
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, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, later asserted to journalists that most of those detained are Hamas operatives.
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.
