Israel has released the director of Gaza's main hospital, seven months after the military raided the facility over allegations it was being used as a Hamas command centre.
The release of Mohammed Abu Selmia without charge or trial raised further questions about Israel's allegations regarding Al-Shifa Hospital, which its forces have raided on two occasions since the start of its brutal war on Gaza.
Abu Selmia was among 55 Palestinian detainees from Gaza who had been released from Israeli custody today. Abu Selmia said he and other prisoners had been tortured and held under harsh conditions, allegations that could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinian detainees who have been released back into Gaza.
Speaking in a press conference after his release, he said: 'We did not meet lawyers, nor did any international institution visit us. For two months, none of the prisoners ate more than one loaf of bread a day."
He added that many prisoners were brutally killed during interrogations. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has criticised the government's handling of the release, pointing to a chaotic and dysfunctional decision-making process that he argued jeopardises the security of Israel's citizens.
