A Palestinian man who had been detained by Israeli forces is welcomed by family and well-wishers as he arrives after his release for a check-up at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 1, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Credit: BAshar Taleb/AFP)
The head of the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital said on Monday after being freed from more than seven months of detention that he had been "tortured" by Israel.
Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya was among dozens of Palestinians released and returned to Gaza for treatment, according to Israeli authorities.
Abu Salmiya said he and other prisoners were put through "severe torture" in Israeli prisons, after being detained since Oct. 7.
"Several inmates died in interrogation centers and were deprived of food and medicine," according to Abu Salmiya, who said he still had a broken thumb.
"For two months no prisoner ate more than a loaf of bread a day," he added.
"Detainees were subjected to physical and psychological humiliation."
The medical chief said no charge had ever been made against him.
Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said it had decided on the release with the Israeli military "to free up places in detention centers".
The agency said it "opposed the release of terrorists" who had taken part in attacks on Israeli civilians "so it was decided to free several Gaza detainees who represent a lesser danger".
However commenting on X, formerly Twitter, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called Abu Salmiya's release "with dozens of other terrorists" a "security abandonment".
Israeli forces detained Abu Salmiya during one of several raids on Al-Shifa.
Emotional reunions
Israel's military has accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a cover for military operations. It has raided Al-Shifa and other hospitals and says it has found tunnels and other infrastructure.
The militant group denies the allegations.
Al-Shifa hospital has been reduced to rubble by successive raids since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
After crossing back to Gaza near the city of Khan Yunis, five detainees were admitted to Al-Aqsa hospital and the others were sent to hospitals in Khan Yunis, a medical source said.
An AFP correspondent at Deir al-Balah saw some detainees in emotional reunions with their families.
Abu Salmiya was not the only top medical practitioner detained.
The Gaza European hospital in Khan Yunis said the head of its orthopaedic unit, Bassam Miqdad, was among those freed on Monday.
In May, Palestinian rights groups said a senior Al-Shifa surgeon had died in an Israeli jail after being detained. The Israeli army said it was unaware of the death.
The war started with Hamas's October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,900 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
