After seven months of detention without charge or trial, Israel has released Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Gaza's main medical center. Abu Selmia and other detainees allege that they were subjected to severe abuse while in Israeli custody.
Israel has released the director of Gaza's main hospital on Monday after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations that the facility had been used as a Hamas command center. The decision has sparked uproar from across the political spectrum, with government ministers and opposition leaders saying he should have remained behind bars.
Mohammed Abu Selmia was released back into Gaza along with 54 other Palestinian detainees, many of whom also alleged abuse. The allegations could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinians who have been held in Israeli custody.
Israel Releases Detained Hospital Director Amid Allegations of Abuse
"Our detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars," Abu Selmia said at a news conference after his release. "There was almost daily torture." He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs.
He said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held had also taken part in the abuse "in violation of all laws." He said some detainees had limbs amputated because of poor medical care.
Israel Releases Detained Hospital Director Amid Allegations of Abuse
There was no immediate response from the prison service, which has previously denied similar accusations.
Israeli forces raided Shifa Hospital in November, alleging that Hamas had created an elaborate command and control center inside the facility. Abu Selmia and other staff denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering thousands of patients and displaced people who were sheltering there.
The military uncovered a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital leading to a few rooms, as well as other evidence that militants had been present inside the medical center, but the evidence fell short of what it had claimed before the raid.
Abu Selmia was detained on November 22 while escorting a U.N.-led evacuation of patients from the hospital. He said his detention was "politically motivated," adding that he had been brought to court at least three times but was never charged or allowed to meet with lawyers.
Hospitals can lose their protection under international law if combatants use them for military purposes.
The decision to release Abu Selmia drew harsh condemnations from government ministers and opposition leaders, as the various state organs responsible for detentions scrambled to shift blame.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister who controls the country's police and prison service, said the release of Abu Selmia and the others constituted "security negligence" and blamed the Defense Ministry. Yair Lapid, an opposition leader, said Abu Selmia's release was another sign of the government's "lawlessness and dysfunction."
The Shin Bet said the government had decided — against its advice — to release detainees who were determined to be less of a threat in order to free up space.
Since the start of the war, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, crowding military detention facilities and prisons. Many are being held without charge or trial in what is known as administrative detention.
The war has killed at least 37,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or fighters. Most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, with many displaced multiple times. Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of public order have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, fueling widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine.
