Gaza hospital director held at notorious Israeli military detention center, recently released detainees say

A prominent Palestinian hospital director who was arrested by Israel in a raid that closed the last major functioning health facility in northern Gaza is being held at a controversial military base that doubles as a detention facility, recently released former detainees have told CNN.

A prominent Palestinian hospital director who was arrested by Israel in a raid that closed the last major functioning health facility in northern Gaza is being held at a controversial military base that doubles as a detention facility, recently released former detainees have told CNN. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has not been seen publicly since Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan hospital on Friday. Staff members accused Israeli forces of starting a fire in the hospital and said they were all rounded up outside and forced to remove their clothes, a process that took hours, before being forced to leave. Local journalist Mohammad Al-Sharif said he was among those who were detained from the hospital before his release 11 hours later. “We endured extremely difficult moments in inhumane conditions,” he told CNN. “The occupation army made no distinction between medical staff, patients, civilians, or journalists.” The Israeli military said on Saturday it had detained Dr. Abu Safiya because he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative,” and claimed that the hospital was being used by Hamas as a “command and control center.” The military did not provide any evidence to support the claims. His family had issued appeals for his whereabouts following his arrest. Former detainees of Sde Teiman, a shadowy military base in Israel’s Negev desert near the Gaza border, say the doctor and other medics from the Kamal Adwan raid are being held there.