Mohammed Abu Salmiya, 2^nd from right

Press TV – July 1, 2024

The director of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, who had been detained by Israeli forces for more than seven months, says he was put through “severe torture” during his detention in Israeli prisons. 

Mohammed Abu Salmiya was among more than 50 Palestinians released and returned to Gaza, according to a medical source in the besieged territory.

Salmiya told a press conference on Monday that detainees “are subjected to all kinds of torture,” in Israel’s prisons and detention centers.

“There was almost daily torture. Cells are broken into and prisoners are beaten.”

“Several inmates died in interrogation centers and were deprived of food and medicine,” the hospital chief said.

Salmiya said the regime’s prison guards “broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs.”

According to him, the Israeli regime’s medical staff at different detention facilities had also taken part “in violation of all laws.”

Some Palestinian detainees, he said, had limbs amputated because of poor medical care.

Salmiya said there are still thousands of detainees held by the regime’s forces.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said in a statement that the conditions of the newly-released prisoners — showing signs of emaciation and physical and psychological torture– expose the criminal nature of the fascist Israeli regime.

Referring to Dr. Salmiya’s testimony, Hamas said the Palestinians are subject to all kinds of abuse and torture inside Israeli jails upon direct orders from Israeli authorities as part of their fascist policy to “exterminate the Palestinian people” with full support of the US government.

It further called on the international community, the United Nations, and the UN institutions to “work immediately to stop this massacre carried out by the Nazi occupation government,” stressing the necessity of “protecting prisoners and civilians in areas of conflict.”

According to the Gaza media office, the regime forces have kidnapped at least 5,000 Palestinians since October 2023, when the military launched its bloodiest-ever war in the besieged territory.

The fate of many of them or the conditions of their detention are still unknown, said the media office.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said previously that he received reports that Palestinians were being beaten, kept in cells blindfolded and handcuffed for excessive periods, deprived of sleep, and threatened with physical and sexual violence.

Other reports suggest detainees have been insulted and exposed to acts of humiliation, such as being photographed and filmed in degrading poses.

The UN expert urged the regime to allow immediate access to international human rights and humanitarian observers to all the places in which Palestinians have been detained since October.

Human rights groups have repeatedly raised the alarm about “unprecedented difficult conditions” in which all Palestinian detainees, including women, are being held. Around 80 female detainees are currently being held in the regime prisons.

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Release of detained al-Shifa hospital director sparks political row in Israel

The Guardian — July 1, 2024

A political row has broken out in Israel after about 50 Palestinian detainees from Gaza were released, including Muhammad Abu Salamiya, director of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, (right) Israel’s far-right internal security minister described it as “security recklessness”. Haaretz reports that sources close to defense minister Yoav Gallant have said he was not aware that the release was planned, and that he was not involved.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that he had ordered an immediate inquiry, but noted that “the decision to release the prisoners follows High Court hearings,” and that releases were determined “independently by security officials.”

Former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who recently quit Netanyahu’s government leading to the dissolution of the war cabinet, said “A government that releases those who cooperated with the murderers committed in al-Shifa in October, who helped hiding our hostages, made an operational and moral error. It cannot lead this war of existence.”

Former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid joined the chorus of criticsim, saying “The debacle surrounding the release of al-Shifa hospital director is a direct continuation of the lawlessness and dysfunction of the government, which harms the security of Israeli citizens.”

WhatsApp messages from inside the Israeli government reported by Hebrew news outlet Ynet appear to show that Ben-Gvir has called for the resignation of the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service.

Israel has said that the al-Shifa hospital was being used by Hamas under the watch of Abu Salmiya, and says that Israeli hostages including Noa Marciano were killed on the premises.

Upon his release, speaking from Nasser hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis, Abu Salmiya said:

All the Palestinian detainees are suffering. I left them in a very dire condition. My message is that their issue must be part of any negotiations until all the Palestinian detainees are released. Al-Shifa Hospital will be rebuilt and it will be once again a beacon of healthcare for all the Palestinians, not only Gazans. I will resume my duties as soon as it is feasible.

Israel arrests everyone, including medical teams. There are prisoners who died from torture, and there are physicians and medical staff members who are still being held and in need of treatment. We are happy about the release but we left behind thousands who are enduring indescribable suffering.

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