WHO chief demands Israel to release Gaza hospital director

Tel Aviv [Israel] / Gaza [Palestine], December 31: The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Monday called on Israel to release a prominent clinician detained in the Gaza Strip.
The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Hussam Abu Safia, must be released immediately, Ghebreyesus postedon X.
The hospital is currently out of operation following an Israeli raid, the forced evacuation of patients and medical staff and the director's arrest, the WHO chief said. "Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat," Ghebreyesus wrote.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)said "more than 240 terrorists" were arrestedin the operation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital since Friday. Fifteenof them had taken part in the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, in the Israeli border area, according to the IDF. Abu Safia is also a suspect, according to IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani. The director was currently being questioned on suspicion of his possible involvement in terrorist activities, he added.
Abu Safia, 51, is reportedly being held in the Sde Teiman base in Israel's Negev desert, according to former Palestinian prisoners cited by the network, who had been released over the weekend from the controversial facility known for its extreme abuse of detainees.
"Two Palestinian prisoners released this weekend from the facility said they saw Abu Safia at the prison, and another former detainee said he heard Abu Safia's name being read out," said the CNN report.
The WHO and authorities in Gaza said they lost contact with Abu Safia after the raid on Friday, which saw the Israeli military set fire to Kamal Adwan and forcefully expel dozens of medical staff and patients - shutting down the only partially functioning hospital in northern Gaza.
On Monday, Israeli media circulated a video of the moments before Abu Safia was detained by Israeli forces, the footage capturing his efforts to move hundreds of patients and medical staff to safety after the Israeli military issued a 15-minute warning to evacuate the hospital.
Abu Safia had refused multiple Israeli orders to leave Kamal Adwan after the Israeli military imposed a devastating blockade on the northern Gaza Strip on October 5.
The director general of the Health Ministry in Gaza said the medic, who had documented the cruel impact of Israel's offensive on his hospital, was severely beaten with batons and sticks by Israeli forces during the raid, forced to strip and put on clothes meant for prisoners.
Source: Qatar Tribune