GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) After releasing him on Monday, Mohamed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, told journalists that many detainees were martyred under torture in Israeli jails, calling for urgent international action to save the Palestinian prisoners.
“Along with my colleagues and about 50 other prisoners, we are all happy that we have been released from Israeli jails,” Abu Salmiya said, addressing a news conference held at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
Abu Salmiya said that he and the other released prisoners “left behind thousands of detainees who are facing the most severe types of torture that no one has ever been through since the Nakba.”
Abu Salmiya affirmed that he and other prisoners were deprived of their most basic rights, adding many prisoners died in interrogation rooms, while other detainees had their limbs amputated because of poor medical care.
Abu Salmiya was detained on November 22, 2023, while escorting a UN-led evacuation of patients from the hospital. He said his detention was “politically motivated,” adding that he had been brought to court at least three times, but he was never charged or allowed to meet with lawyers.
In a related context, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has expressed fear for the life of Dr. Mohamed Abu Salmiya “following a storm of violent reactions in the Israeli government regarding his release.”
Euro-Med said in a statement that the doctor’s life could be in “danger” and warned of “the possibility of re-arresting, targeting, or killing him directly and deliberately.”
“The release of the director of the medical complex (Al-Shifa Hospital) and his colleagues without charges is evidence that the pretexts for storming and destroying the hospital are flimsy arguments,” Euro-Med said.
“We hold Israel fully responsible for the doctor’s life after launching a large-scale political and media campaign against him.”
