Kamal Adwan Hospital director held in Israeli military detention centre: Report

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, who was arrested during an Israeli raid that shut down the last major functioning healthcare facility in northern Gaza, is being held at a military base that also operates as a detention centre, according to a report by CNN, which cited accounts from released detainees. 

“Two Palestinian prisoners released this weekend from the facility said they saw Abu Safiya at the prison, and another former detainee said he heard Abu Safiya's name being read out,” the report said.

The Israeli army has confirmed the arrest, alleging that Abu Safiya is a “Hamas terrorist operative” and the Kamal Adwan Hospital was being used as a “command centre”. However, the military has not presented evidence for its claims.

Israeli troops stormed the hospital on Friday following nearly three months of a suffocating blockade and constant air strikes targeting the facility and its surroundings. 

The bombardment caused fires in several hospital departments, resulting in the deaths and injuries of Palestinian medical staff and patients.

All remaining medical personnel, patients and their families were forced out of the hospital at gunpoint, stripped to their underwear and taken to an undisclosed location.