Israel arrests Al-Shifa director

The Israeli army detained Mohammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest hospital in Gaza, on Thursday, according to a report by Al Jazeera. Another significant hospital in the besieged area, the Indonesian Hospital, was also issued instructions to evacuate.

Khalid Abu Samra, the hospital’s department head, told the AFP news agency earlier today that Salmiya was arrested along with several other “senior doctors,” citing allegations from the media and a doctor.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also announced the hospital director’s arrest, which Adham Abu Selmiya, Salmiya’s cousin, confirmed in a post on the social media site X (previously Twitter).

The Israeli occupation troops have taken Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of the al-Shifa hospital complex, into custody. Reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum of Al Jazeera reported from southern Gaza that two Palestinian paramedics had been arrested by the Israeli occupation troops even earlier.

“This clearly indicates that there is no immunity inside the Gaza Strip, as attacks have affected all social classes within the Palestinian community, including journalists, civil defense personnel, and medical personnel.”

IDF releases footage of the latest Israeli Air Force airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/ZBCpIiEwgC

— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 23, 2023

The Israeli army’s operation against Hamas, the Palestinian resistance organization that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, has recently centersed mostly on the hospital.

The Indonesia facility in Gaza was erected in 2011 with funding from the Indonesian charity Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), which reports that the facility has been fully evacuated and its volunteers have relocated to Rafah.

Earlier, the Israeli army issued a warning to all within the hospital to leave within four hours, according to the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, who was present inside the facility.

Sarbini Abdul Murad, the head of MER-C, told Al Jazeera that “the Indonesia Hospital is now empty and our volunteers have been moved to a school near the European Hospital in Rafah.”

“The doctors and the wounded were moved to the European Hospital. Our volunteers are sheltering at a school with thousands of others.”

⚡️Al-Qassam published a new footage showing its force targeting IOF vehicles & soldiers penetrating the areas of Gaza City.

And for the 3rd time, destroying a military vehicle from point-blanc range! https://t.co/vVM1usI4y2 pic.twitter.com/BSeLwIm2fx

— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) November 22, 2023

A second Israeli official stated that Thursday would not see the start of a brief ceasefire in the hostilities.

Families that are eager for their loved ones to return home and the more than two million Gazans who are praying for an end to the 47 days of violence, starvation, and vicious Israeli attacks on civilian targets are both severely harmed by the delay.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce during which at least 50 hostages abducted in the Palestinian militant group’s deadly October 7 bombings would be released. It was a sophisticated and well-planned agreement.

An Israeli government paper stated that there would be an extra day’s “pause” in warfare for every ten more hostages freed.

Among the people scheduled for release were three Americans, including three-year-old Abigail Mor Idan.

After weeks of severe warfare and bombardment, Israel would in exchange free at least 150 Palestinian women and children and permit additional humanitarian aid to reach the beleaguered coastal enclave.

The reason for the delay, which occurred following weeks of negotiations between Israel, Palestinian resistance organizations, Qatar, Egypt, and the US, was not immediately apparent.

According to Majed Al-Ansari, a spokeswoman for the Qatari foreign ministry, the agreement’s implementation “continues and is going positively.”

“The truce agreement that was reached will be concluded in the coming hours,” he stated.

Leaders of Hamas and Israel have accepted the accord, in spite of strong objections from those in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing administration.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, called the agreement a “historic mistake” that would give Hamas more confidence and put Israeli soldiers’ lives in danger.

On October 7, following deadly raids into Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian gunmen captured some 240 prisoners.

Following the incident, Israel launched a brutal and savage offensive into Gaza, which according to local authorities has resulted in the deaths of over 14,000 people, thousands of them being children.

Netanyahu has supported the agreement with Hamas, but he has promised that the drive to destroy Hamas will continue and the ceasefire will only be temporary.

He declared on Wednesday, “We are winning and will continue to fight until absolute victory,” promising to protect Israel from threats coming from Gaza and Lebanon, which is home to Hezbollah.

Early on Thursday, Hezbollah announced that five fighters—including the son of a key lawmaker—had been killed, which heightened tensions along Israel’s northern border.

There have been nearly daily gunfire exchanges along the Israel-Lebanon border since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, which has led to concerns that the Gaza conflict could spark a regional conflict.

In remarks released on Wednesday night, the Israeli army claimed to have hit several Hezbollah objectives, including infrastructure and a “terrorist cell”.

Speaking with Netanyahu on Wednesday, President Joe Biden “emphasized the importance of maintaining calm along the Lebanese border as well as in the West Bank,” according to the White House in Washington.

Israel is under pressure from the White House to refrain from intensifying hostilities with Hezbollah to avoid starting a conflict that would involve US and Iranian forces.

In his talks with the presidents of Qatar and Egypt on Wednesday, Biden emphasized the need for the ceasefire to be “fully implemented” and to “ultimately secure the release of all hostages.”

Families dealt with the uncertainty around the course of the releases on both sides.

Israel’s roster of qualifying Palestinian inmates comprised 33 female inmates and 123 under-18 inmates.

Displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis continued to have doubts about the Israel-Hamas agreement.

“What kind of truce are they referring to? We don’t require a ceasefire in order for help to arrive. Maysara Assabagh, who left northern Gaza for a hospital that currently houses roughly 35,000 displaced persons, said, “We want to go home.”

Thousands of airstrikes have leveled large portions of Gaza, and the region is suffering from a fuel, water, and food crisis.

Witness reports indicated that Israel was continuing its onslaught in northern Gaza, striking the Kamal Adwan hospital and surrounding residences.

While other neighbors ran through the streets buried in debris to safety, medical personnel attended to bleeding and dust-coated survivors.

Israeli forces escorted media to a tunnel shaft at Gaza’s largest hospital, the Al-Shifa, where they asserted that it was a part of a larger underground network that Hamas employs for military operations. Hamas disputes this assertion.

In a CNN interview, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak admitted that Israel built the bunker under the hospital.

Pentagon: US intercepts several assault drones fired from Yemen.

According to the US Central Command, several attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen were intercepted on Thursday by a US vessel cruising the Red Sea.

“On the morning (Yemen time) of November 23, the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) shot down multiple one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen,” CENTCOM stated on X, which used to be Twitter.

“The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury,” it stated.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, the Houthis have identified as members of the “axis of resistance” and have fired several missiles and drones in the direction of Israel.

In light of the nation’s conflict with Hamas, the Houthis have also threatened to attack Israeli vessels.

At the Red Sea’s entry on Sunday, the Houthis captured a cargo ship with ties to Israel and its twenty-five international crew members.

The seizure was described as a “very grave incident of global consequence” by the Israeli military on Sunday, and as “a flagrant violation of international law” by a US military official.