Gaza hospital director released among other Palestinians by Israel

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for the dismissal of Shin Bet security service chief Ronen Bar after Israel released the director of Shifa Hospital, along with about 55 other Palestinian detainees, to the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military arrested the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, in November last year on suspicion that he had allowed Hamas to use the hospital in Gaza City as an operations center. He was arrested and taken for questioning by the Shin Bet security service while trying to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip through a humanitarian corridor run by the Israeli military.

After videos of Abu Salmiya’s welcome back to Gaza were posted on social media, Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter that the decision to release the hospital director “along with dozens of terrorists” was a “security-related” act.

Ministers and top security officials traded blame and sought to deflect responsibility amid the political furor over Abu Selmiya’s release. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Supreme Court bore at least some of the blame; opposition leaders said the government had failed and should resign, and the Shin Bet security service said it had been warning for a year that there were not enough cells to hold suspects and that Ben-Gvir and others in the government had ignored his concerns. 

It is time for the prime minister to prevent [Defense Minister Yoav] Galant and the head of the Shin Bet from implementing independent policies contradicting the government’s positions,” Ben-Gvir said.

In leaked screenshots that Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said were taken from a ministerial messaging group, Ben-Gvir appeared to escalate his attack on Bar, declaring that “the time has come to fire the head of the Shin Bet.”

He does whatever he wants, and Galant supports him completely. They don’t care about the cabinet and the government. He pursues an independent policy, does whatever he wants, and becomes responsible for sponsoring terrorists in meetings,” he continued. Israel often returns detainees from Gaza to the Strip after ensuring that they are not suspected of involvement in armed activities.

Far-right Settlements Minister Orit Struck intervened amid Ben-Gvir’s comments, repeatedly questioning whether Bar had the authority to make such a decision. Galant and Netanyahu were quick to distance themselves from the release of Palestinian prisoners.

“The authority to detain and release security prisoners is subject to the Shin Bet and the Israel Prison Service and is not subject to the approval of the Minister of Defense,” Galant’s office said. The Shin Bet is under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office, while the Israel Prison Service is under Ben-Gvir’s Ministry of National Security.

Netanyahu’s office said, The decision to release the prisoners came following discussions in the Supreme Court regarding a petition against the detention of prisoners in the Sde Teiman detention center. The statement added that “the identity of the released prisoners is determined independently by security officials based on their professional opinions, adding that Netanyahu ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.