The leader of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza accuses Israel of abusing Palestinian prisoners

TEL AVIV — A top Gaza doctor has accused Israel of abusing Palestinian prisoners, hours after he and dozens of others were released — a decision that has sparked outrage and recriminations among right-wing lawmakers and Israeli security services.

After more than seven months of Israeli detention without charge or trial, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, was seen walking around the enclave with 54 other freed Palestinians, many of whom still wore gray prison uniforms.

“When you seek medical attention, you are tortured by a nurse and a doctor, and this is against international conventions,” he told an NBC News crew in the Gaza Strip, describing his experiences in what he said were numerous Israeli prisons.

“We have put prisoners in a very difficult situation. What the prisoners are going through now has never happened in the history of the prison movement,” he added, surrounded by family, colleagues and well-wishers celebrating his return.

In a separate statement from Gaza’s Hamas-led health ministry, Salmiya said Palestinian prisoners had been attacked and insulted. Conditions behind bars were “dire,” he said, adding that there was a shortage of food and drinks.

NBC News reached out to the Israel Prison Service for comment. Asked about past allegations of torture, a prison service spokesman said it “operates in accordance with the law” and “all basic required laws are fully applied.”

In Israel, the rare release of prisoners has sparked a wave of anger and finger-pointing even among officials and agencies responsible for detention, revealing how the conduct of the war in Gaza has deepened divisions in the Israeli hierarchy.

Itamar Ben Gvir, the ultranationalist minister of national security, denounced the decision to release the prisoners as “security negligence” and demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prevent Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, “pursuing independent policies contrary to” the government .

Benny Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu’s now-defunct war cabinet and one of the prime minister’s main rivals, said the mass release included militants who helped carry out Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostage.

Calling it a “moral and ethical operational error,” he said in a statement to Telegram that “the person who made this decision lacked judgment – ​​and should be fired today.”

NBC News asked prison officials if anyone suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks had been released.

Gallant, in his statement, attributed the decision to the Shin Bet and the Prison Service, which report to Ben Gvir, the minister of national security.

Netanyahu’s office, meanwhile, called Salmiya’s release a “grave mistake and a moral failure.” In a statement, the decision to release him was made “without the knowledge of the political leadership and heads of the organization.” It added that the prime minister had ordered a “thorough investigation into how this happened,” and that Shin Bet director Ronen Bar was expected to present the findings within the next 24 hours.

The Shin Bet responded to the sharp criticism by placing the blame on what it said was the Israeli government’s inability to alleviate prison overcrowding.

“For about a year, the General Security Service has been warning in every possible forum, both in writing and orally, about the difficult situation of prisoners and the need to increase the number of places of detention,” the intelligence agency said in a statement. “Without an immediate solution to the problem of the shortage of detention places, arrests will continue to be canceled and detainees will continue to be released.”

Israeli officials have for months described Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, as a hub of Hamas activity and a prime example of the organization using civilian infrastructure as a “human shield” to mask its activities.

The Israeli military faced international criticism when it laid siege to the sprawling hospital complex in November. Hospital administrators and Hamas have denied that military operations were taking place there, and Israel’s attempts to justify its attacks on the hospital have been met with skepticism.

Hospitals could lose protection under international law if combatants use them for military purposes.

Over the past few months, advocacy groups have drawn attention to the plight of health care workers in Gaza. In a statement last week, the UN Human Rights Office condemned “reports of the killing of 500 health workers in Gaza” since October 7.

More than 37,900 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its offensive following Hamas attacks, according to the enclave’s health ministry, which last week reported the detention of 310 health workers.

The killings and arrests – with doctors and nurses often held for months without charge – have sparked outrage among Palestinian leaders.

“Israeli ministers and the opposition must apologize to doctors and health workers for their arrest, torture and ill-treatment, which constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law,” Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary general of the West Bank-based National Initiative, said in a statement.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com