Gaza Strip: In another instance exposing how the Zionist regime in Israel is disregarding all international and humanitarian laws, the Occupation Army Thursday November 23, 2023 arrested Director of Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital along with his medical staff.
Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors, Dr Khalid Abu Samra, a department chief at one of the largest hospitals in Gaza, told the AFP news agency.
Protesting the arrest of Al Shifa Hospital Director Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya along with a number of other senior doctors, Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has stopped coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The health ministry said it wants an explanation from the World Health Organization, as the doctors were travelling in a WHO convoy with patients when they were stopped and detained by the Israeli forces.
“The World Health Organization has not yet sent us any report explaining the situation including the numbers and names of those detained,” said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the health ministry.
“The inability to contact al-Shifa means we don’t know who has been arrested … There’s a chance some of those detainees will be killed. We know the occupation forces are capable of that", he added.
Palestinian Resistance Group Hamas said it “strongly denounces” the arrest of Salmiya and his colleagues, calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organisations to work towards their “immediate release”.
“We consider it a despicable act that only comes from an entity that lacks all sense of humanity and morals, in addition to being a crime and a flagrant violation of international conventions that guarantee no attacks against medical personnel at all times,” Hamas said in a statement.
According to Al Jazeera, two Palestinian paramedics had been arrested by the Israeli occupation forces few days ago.
After killing thousands of civilians in Gaza, Israeli Occupation Forces have waged a war against the hospitals in Gaza Strip. On Nov 15, the Israeli army stormed into the Al Shifa Hospital, damaged health facilities and other infrastructure.
The Israeli forces also fired inside the hospital wards and premises. The Israeli army later ordered an evacuation of the facility, but a handful of staff remained there saying there were about 180 patients still inside.
The Israeli Army waged war on hospitals in Gaza under the pretext that they are being used by the Palestinian Resistance Groups as control rooms and hideouts.
The Palestinian Resistance Groups, including New York based rights groups working in Gaza and the hospital staff, rejected the Israeli claims.
The Palestinians Health Ministry and Hamas militants also invited UN and other international observers for inspection of the hospitals in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the implementation of Israel-Hamas truce deal finalised on Wednesday has been delayed. According to Israeli and Palestinian sources the implementation of the deal has been delayed till Friday.
The Foreign Minister of Qatar meanwhile said the exact time of implementation of truce deal will be announced any moment.
Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues unabated even after the truce deal. On Thursday November 23, 2023, Israeli fighter jets bomb multiple residential areas in Khan Yunis and Rafah in Southern Gaza that was declared a “safe zone” by the occupation army.
As many as 14,532 Palestinians, including more than 6,000 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Oct 7, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.
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