GAZA,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Hamas Movement has condemned the Israeli occupation for what it described as the “criminal targeting” of Gaza’s medical personnel following the kidnaping of Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the field hospitals in the Strip.
In a statement on Monday, Hamas said that Dr. Hams was kidnaped while visiting a field hospital operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Rafah. The Movement added that Israeli forces opened fire at an ambulance transporting him, killing journalist Tamer al-Za’anin and injuring others.
Hamas accused Israel of deliberately targeting medical workers through “killing, arrest, and intimidation,” describing the incident as part of a wider campaign to cripple Gaza’s health sector.
Hamas held the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for any harm coming to Dr. Hams and hundreds of other detained medical personnel, who are being held in “inhumane conditions.”
The Movement urged the international community, particularly ICRC and the World Health Organization (WHO), to strongly condemn the incident and pressure the Israeli regime to release all the detained doctors.
Earlier, Palestinian media reported that Dr. Marwan al-Hams was kidnapped by special forces in broad daylight, and journalist Tamer al-Za’anin was shot dead during the attack, which happened as he visited a Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza.
Other news reports said that Israeli forces from a special military unit opened fire outside a Red Cross field hospital in Gaza on Monday, killing two Palestinians, including a journalist, before they kidnaped Dr. Hams, head of the field hospitals in the coastal enclave.
According to the Quds News Network (QNN), journalist Tamer al-Zaneen was killed by direct gunfire from the special unit that abducted Dr. Hams, who is also the director of the Abu Youssef an-Najjar Hospital and the health ministry spokesman. Another journalist was also injured in the attack.
QNN cited local sources as saying that the unit opened fire on civilians at a cafeteria near the hospital, killing two, including the journalist, before abducting Dr. Hams. The doctor’s accompanying ambulance driver was also injured during the attack.
