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Good News from Gaza -- Al-Shifa Hospital Up and Running; Bad News -- It's Director Is Not [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-12-12
Finally, some good news from the war in Gaza. The Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is operational and treating patients. It is also providing shelter for residents of Gaza.
However, its Director is still in custody in Israel.
BACKGROUND
The Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is the largest and most advanced hospital in Gaza. It is located in Gaza City, near the Marina on the coast. It was the epicenter of the Hospital Wars (author’s term) in November.
Israeli forces moving east from the coast entered the hospital with force on November 15, looking to destroy Hamas underground command center(s) they claimed were there along with an extensive tunnel network. The hospital tried to function despite shortages of all types of supplies and increasingly difficult working conditions. The hospital was also sheltering a large number of residents of Gaza who saw the hospital grounds as a safe place to stay. Eventually, most of the patients and staff were evacuated to hospitals in the south. The people sheltering at the hospital left to locations unknown. The expectation was that the hospital would close, removing a vital medical facility badly needed in Gaza.
The Director of the Hospital along with some of the staff were detained / arrested by Israel at some point while they were in the process of evacuating to the south on November 23. The details of exactly what happened are still not clear. Many were released, but some were not, including the hospital Director.
OPERATIONAL
There are reports and pictures showing that the Al-Shifa Hospital is operational, treating patients and accepting new patients. One of these images is in the headline picture. This is a profound turnaround from when the hospital was being evacuated, and was expected to close.
The hospital is also providing shelter for residents of Gaza, as it was before the IDF reached the hospital and entered it.
DIRECTOR
Dr. Mohammad Salmiya, Director of the Al-Shifa Hospital
The Director of the Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Salmiya, recently had his confinement by Israel extended by perhaps 45 days during a hearing before a civilian Magistrate's Court (via videoconference). There is a good report on his status from the Jerusalem Post, who were unable to determine his legal status. The last he was heard from, the Shin Bet were interrogating him, but he refused to talk. (The Shin Bet is responsible for intelligence activities inside Israel and the occupied territories.) There are those in the Shin Bet who are convinced he is guilty of knowingly harboring Hamas in his hospital, and are most likely trying to find the necessary evidence to prosecute him.
TUNNELS and COMMAND CENTERS
There are no further reports of tunnels being found under the hospital, although the existing tunnels found still have branches that haven’t been explored, or at least shown to the public.
More significantly, the command centers that Israel said were under the hospital have not been found. Given all the controversy over the lack of evidence of these command centers, one would expect Israel to have touted their discovery if they found them.
To be fair, the IDF have a limited number of combat engineers trained to work in tunnels and in bomb detection & disposal. These engineering troops are most likely needed in the south and areas in the north where the IDF is advancing into Hamas held territory. These troops have much greater value in these locations of active fighting than trying to score publicity points by finding more underground facilities at the Al-Shifa Hospital. They are needed for tunnel detection & destruction, and handling various explosive devices found by the advancing IDF troops.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ?
Israel has NOT closed the hospital down, as was feared. Israel is keeping the hospital operating, and allowing supplies into it. Israel is also allowing residents of Gaza to shelter in the hospital grounds.
The situation with the hospital Director needs to be followed, and not forgotten — both for his sake, and for what may be learned from him.
The question of tunnels and command centers under the Al-Shifa Hospital remains an unanswered question. It will likely remain so for quite a while as the war and its aftermath continues. Eventually, the truth may be known, but it could take quite a long while. The process of discovering what is, and is not, beneath the hospital will be time consuming, and very dangerous, as there could be booby traps and explosives hidden in the tunnel.
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