KHAN YOUNIS, 1 Jul: The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault in the Gaza Strip\u2019s second largest city.
\nThe order suggested Khan Younis will be the latest of Israel\u2019s repeated raids into parts of Gaza it has already invaded over the past eight months, pursuing Hamas militants as they regroup. Much of Khan Younis was already destroyed in a long assault earlier this year, but large numbers of Palestinians have since moved back in to escape another Israeli offensive in Gaza\u2019s southern-most city, Rafah.
\nThe evacuation call covered the entire eastern half of Khan Younis and surrounding areas. Last week, the military ordered a similar evacuation from the north Gaza district of Shujaiya, where there has been intensive fighting since.
\nThe order came as Israel released the director of Gaza\u2019s main hospital after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command center. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured.
\nThe decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia raised questions over Israel\u2019s claims surrounding Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces have raided twice since the start of the nearly nine-month war with Hamas. Abu Selmia and other Palestinian health officials have denied the accusations.
\nHis release triggered an uproar across Israel\u2019s political spectrum. Government ministers and opposition leaders expressed outrage and insisted Abu Salmia played a role in Hamas\u2019 alleged use of the hospital \u2014 though Israeli security services rarely unilaterally free prisoners if they have a suspicion of militant links.
\nThe decision appeared to have been taken to free up space in overcrowded detention centers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an inquiry, his office said, though it added that security officials independently determine whom to release \u201cbased on their professional considerations.\u201d
\nAbu Selmia was released back into Gaza along with 54 other Palestinian detainees, many of whom also alleged abuse. The allegations could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinians who have been held in Israeli custody.
\n\u201cOur detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars,\u201d Abu Selmia said at a news conference after his release. \u201cThere was almost daily torture.\u201d He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs.
\nHe said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held had also taken part in the abuse \u201cin violation of all laws.\u201d He said some detainees had limbs amputated because of poor medical care.
\nThere was no immediate response from the prison service, which has previously denied similar accusations.
\nIsraeli forces raided Shifa Hospital in November, alleging that Hamas had created an elaborate command and control center inside the facility. Abu Selmia and other staff denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering thousands of patients and displaced people who were sheltering there.
\nThe military uncovered a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital leading to a few rooms, as well as other evidence that militants had been present inside the medical center, but the evidence fell short of what it had claimed before the raid.
\nAbu Selmia was detained on Nov. 22 while escorting a U.N.-led evacuation of patients from the hospital. He said his detention was \u201cpolitically motivated,\u201d adding that he had been brought to court at least three times but was never charged or allowed to meet with lawyers.
\nIsrael has since raided other Gaza hospitals on similar allegations, forcing them to shut down or dramatically reduce services even as tens of thousands have been wounded in Israeli strikes or sickened in the harsh conditions of the war. The army raided Shifa a second time earlier this year, causing heavy destruction after saying that militants had regrouped there.
\nHospitals can lose their protection under international law if combatants use them for military purposes, but any assaults on them must still be proportional to any military threat.
\nAmid the uproar over Abu Selmia\u2019s release, the various Israeli state organs responsible for detentions scrambled to shift blame.
\nItamar Ben Gvir, Israel\u2019s far-right national security minister who controls the country\u2019s police and prison service, said the releases constituted \u201csecurity negligence\u201d and blamed the Defense Ministry. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Abu Selmia\u2019s release was another sign of the government\u2019s \u201clawlessness and dysfunction.\u201d
\nDefense Minister Yoav Gallant\u2019s office said the incarceration and release of prisoners is the responsibility of the prison service and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The prison service said the decision was made by the Shin Bet and the army, and released a document ordering his release that was signed by an army reserve general.
\nThe Shin Bet said Abu Selmia had passed a risk assessment, \u201ccompared to other detainees.\u201d It said the government had decided against its advice to release detainees determined to be less of a threat in order to free up space.
\nSince the start of the war, Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, crowding military detention facilities and prisons. Many are being held without charge or trial in what is known as administrative detention.
\nIsrael launched its offensive after Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 attack, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 civilians and took another 250 hostage. In its campaign, Israel has killed at least 37,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or fighters.
\nMost of Gaza\u2019s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, with many displaced multiple times. Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of public order have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, fueling widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KHAN YOUNIS, 1 Jul: The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault in the Gaza Strip\u2019s second largest city. The order suggested Khan Younis will be the latest of Israel\u2019s repeated raids into parts of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}