Abu Salmiya was arrested in November, after Israeli forces attacked Gaza’s largest and most important hospital complex. The Israeli military had accused the medical director of allowing Hamas militants to use the compound as a command and control center.
A Washington Post analysis later found that the evidence presented by the Israeli government was insufficient to support allegations regarding the active use of the facility as a command center.
Abu Salmiya’s whereabouts have been unknown to the public since his arrest. At a press conference upon his return to Gaza, he said he had been repeatedly tortured and denied access to a lawyer, the al-Quds media network reported. Israeli authorities did not issue a statement accompanying his release on Monday, and the army did not respond to requests for comment.
The raid on Al-Shifa, a hospital housing hundreds of sick and dying people, as well as thousands of displaced people, is a first in decades. It caused the collapse of the hospital’s activities.
As Israeli troops closed in and fighting intensified, fuel ran out, supplies could not get in and ambulances could not pick up the wounded from the streets. The Israeli military claimed that five hospital buildings were directly involved in Hamas activities, that these buildings were atop underground tunnels used by the militants to direct rocket attacks and command fighters, and that the tunnels were accessible from inside the hospital rooms.
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Soldiers did find weapons inside the compound. But a Post analysis of open source visuals, satellite images and publicly released IDF documents found that none of the five hospital buildings identified by an IDF spokesperson appeared to be connected to the tunnel network, and that There was no evidence that the tunnels were accessible from inside the hospital wards.
Abu Salmiya’s release angered Israeli officials. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the move was “security negligence,” while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for “new security leadership.”
Former War Minister Benny Gantz, who resigned last month, said “whoever made this decision lacks judgment and should be fired today.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not take responsibility for the release, saying the decision to release the prisoners on Monday was made independently by security agencies and that an “immediate investigation” had been ordered. .
The Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, blamed the release on overcrowding in Israel’s detention system, saying it had forced the release of prisoners who pose a “lesser threat.”
But the prison administration disputed this version of events. “The hospital director was not released due to a lack of detention space,” it said, claiming that Abu Salmiya had been released from Nafha prison.
“Any allegations regarding a failure in the release process undermine the professionalism and integrity of prison officers who deal with the worst murderers on a daily basis,” the prison service said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the outcry in Israel also continued within the ultra-Orthodox community following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that yeshiva students must be conscripted into the Israeli army. Protesters threw stones at police and injured several officers on Sunday evening, Israeli police said, adding that at least five were arrested.
“We and the army are not the same, the army is as if it is Christian, European,” said Shmuel Shitrit, 21, who studies at a yeshiva in Jerusalem during the protest. “I believe the Torah says we should not serve in the army,” adding that “the Torah will protect the country.”
At one point, protesters surrounded the car of a minister from an ultra-Orthodox party and bombed it before police could remove the vehicle. Police dispersed protesters using skunk-scented water cannons and mounted units.
Ultra-Orthodox parties have threatened to withdraw from Netanyahu’s government if he fails to find a workaround, which could lead to the collapse of his coalition.
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Israeli Defense Forces continue their operations throughout the Gaza Strip, including in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Troops carried out “dozens” of strikes and “located large quantities of weapons,” the Israeli army said on Monday. Residents of the densely populated area were ordered to evacuate last week as fighting intensified in Chejaiya.
Around 20 projectiles were launched at Israel from the Khan Younis area., the Israeli army said Monday, adding that a number of projectiles were intercepted but some fell in southern Israel. “IDF artillery is currently striking the sources of the fire,” the army said. No injuries were reported.
At least 37,900 people have been killed and 87,060 injured in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that around 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 316 soldiers have been killed since its military operations in Gaza began.
Heidi Levine and Lior Soroka contributed to this report
