Israel has confirmed that it has detained the head of a Gaza hospital, Abu Safiya.

Israel has confirmed that it has detained Gaza hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya after earlier telling a local NGO that it was unaware of his case, prompting them to There is concern about the health of

“He is being personally investigated by Israeli security forces,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said.

The statement offered no explanation for the confusion but reiterated that he was suspected of being a “terrorist” and “obtaining a position” in Hamas, the armed Palestinian group at war with Israel in Gaza.

Dr. Abu Safiyyah was arrested after the Israeli army forced patients and medical staff to leave Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza last Friday, alleging that the facility was a “hotbed of Hamas terrorists.”

On Thursday, the IDF told Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) that it had “no indication of the arrest or detention of the individual in question”.

PHRI filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice on Thursday, demanding the disclosure of Dr. Abu Safia’s location. He said the court had given the IDF a week to comply.

Meanwhile, Amnesty chief Agnès Callamard said Israeli authorities should immediately reveal his whereabouts.

He said Israel had “detained hundreds of Palestinian health care workers from Gaza without charge or trial” and said they had been “subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and held incommunicado detention.” I was placed”.

Israel has denied ill-treatment of prisoners.

Dr Abu Safia’s family previously told BBC Arabic they believed he was being held at the Sade Timan military base in southern Israel, where Israeli forces have taken several prisoners from Gaza for questioning.

Whistleblowers have previously told the BBC and other international media. Very harsh conditions for prisoners Israel has said that all prisoners there are being held “carefully and appropriately”.

The IDF ordered everyone inside Kamal Adwan Hospital to leave last Friday morning, giving the hospital about 15 minutes to move patients and staff into the courtyard, medical staff told the BBC. went

Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, has been under a tight Israeli blockade imposed on parts of northern Gaza since October. The United Nations has said the area is under “almost complete siege” as the Israeli military has severely blocked aid deliveries to an area that is home to an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people.

On Saturday, the IDF said it arrested 240 fighters in Kamal Adwan and said Dr. Abu Safiya was among the medical staff taken in for questioning.

Video footage shows him walking towards an Israeli armored vehicle before being taken away for interrogation. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the arrest the same day, saying the doctor had been transferred for questioning.

Dr. Abu Safia was previously arrested by Israeli forces during a raid on the hospital in October, but was released shortly after. During this Israeli operation, the 15-year-old son of Dr. Abu Safia was killed in a drone attack. Footage from later that day showed him leading his son’s funeral prayer in the hospital courtyard.

Condemnation of Israeli attacks on medical facilities in Gaza has increased.

On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights office said Israeli attacks on and around hospitals had increased. Gaza’s health care system “on the brink of total collapse” and expressed grave concern over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel’s mission in Geneva said Israeli forces operate in accordance with international law and will “never target innocent civilians”.

On October 7, 2023, Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

More than 45,580 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.