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Four medical workers in Gaza, among them the director of al-Shifa hospital, were arrested this week by the Israeli military. The World Health Organization WHO calls on Israel to “fully” respect their human rights.
Among those detained is Director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, Director of al-Shifa Hospital. A total of six people were arrested in connection with a UN-coordinated effort to evacuate patients from the hospitals, WHO writes in a statement.
Two of those arrested have since been released, according to the WHO, which says it has no information on the condition of those still in custody.
From the Israeli side, it is stated that Salmiya is being interrogated.
– We are in the process of questioning him about the fact that he was the director of a hospital that was in practice located on top of an entire terror infrastructure, says Doron Spielman, spokesperson for the Israeli army (IDF).
Israel has claimed for years that terror-labeled Hamas has a command center under the hospital in Gaza, which both its staff and Hamas deny.
In the past week, WHO has carried out three interventions at al-Shifa hospital, the organization states in its statement.
In the third operation, which took place on Wednesday, 151 people were evacuated. Among them were patients and their relatives as well as healthcare personnel, according to the WHO.
In the second operation, on Sunday last week, 31 babies were evacuated from the hospital.