Mohamed Abu Salmiya released from Shifa Hospital

Abu Salmiya was arrested in November after Israeli forces stormed Gaza’s largest and most important hospital complex. The Israeli military had accused the medical director of allowing Hamas militias to use the complex as a command and control center.

A Washington Post analysis later found that the evidence presented by the Israeli government did not support claims of active use of the facility as a command center.

Abu Salmiya’s whereabouts have been unknown to the public since his arrest. In a press conference after his return to Gaza, he said he had been frequently tortured and denied access to a lawyer, the al-Quds media network reported. Israeli authorities made no statement on his release on Monday, and the military did not respond to requests for comment.

The attack by a US ally on a hospital housing hundreds of sick and dying people and thousands of displaced people was unprecedented in recent decades. The attack on al-Shifa brought the hospital’s operations to a standstill.

As Israeli troops closed in and fighting intensified, fuel ran out, supplies could not enter the country and ambulances could not pick up injured people from the streets. The Israel Defense Forces had claimed that five hospital buildings were directly involved in Hamas activities, that the buildings were located over underground tunnels used by the militants to direct rocket attacks and command fighters, and that the tunnels were accessible from hospital wards.

Troops did indeed find weapons in the complex, but an analysis by The Post of open-source imagery, satellite images and publicly available Israel Defense Forces materials found that none of the five hospital buildings identified by an Israeli spokesman appeared to be connected to the tunnel network, and there was no evidence that the tunnels were accessible from hospital wards.

The release of Abu Salmiya sparked anger among Israeli officials. Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called the decision a “security neglect,” while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for “new security leadership.”

Former War Minister Benny Gantz, who resigned last month, said: “Whoever made this decision has no judgment and should be fired today.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office took no responsibility for the release, saying that “the identities of the released prisoners will be independently established by security officials” and that the case was under investigation, Ynet reported.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community also continued to be uneasy over last week’s Supreme Court ruling that yeshiva students should be drafted into the Israeli army. Protesters threw stones at police on Sunday evening, injuring several officers, Israeli police said. At least five were arrested.

At one point, protesters surrounded the car of a priest from an ultra-Orthodox party and threw bullets at it before police could remove the vehicle. Police dispersed the protesters with skunk-smelling water cannons and mounted units.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have threatened to quit Netanyahu’s government if he fails to find a solution, which could lead to the collapse of his coalition.

What else you should know

The Israel Defense Forces continue their operations throughout the Gaza Strip, including the Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya, Troops carried out “dozens” of attacks there and “discovered large quantities of weapons,” the Israeli army said on Monday. Residents of the densely populated area were ordered to evacuate last week as fighting intensified in Shejaiya.

About 20 missiles were fired at Israel from the Khan Younis areathe Israeli army said on Monday, adding that some of the shells were intercepted but some landed in southern Israel. “Israeli artillery is currently attacking the fire sources,” the military said. No injuries were reported.

Since the war began, at least 37,900 people have been killed and 87,060 injured in Gaza., according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and it says 316 soldiers have been killed since military operations began in Gaza.

Lior Soroka contributed to this report.