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Several Israeli ministers criticise the discharge of the director of the Gazan hospital Al Shifa

Several Israeli ministers on Monday rejected the discharge of the previous director of Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, Mohamed Abu Salmeya, in a authorities chat broadcast by Israeli media and on public channels.

Abu Salmeya, who was launched at this time together with 50 different Palestinian prisoners, was the director of the biggest hospital within the Strip when the military detained him on February 23 for questioning in regards to the “terrorist activities” of the Islamist group Hamas within the clinic, after the invention of certainly one of its tunnels below the middle.

The Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, denounced on the social community X the discharge of Abu Salmeya and the opposite prisoners as a “security negligence”. “The time has come for the prime minister to prevent Gallant from [el ministro de Defensa] and the head of the Shin Bet carry out an independent policy contrary to the position of the Cabinet and the Government,” he laments. Ben Gvir seeks tougher treatment of prisoners and in 2023 he already proposed a death penalty law only for Palestinians that was approved in first reading two months later, although it has yet to receive the green light from the Knesset (Parliament).

In response to criticism from its own government partner, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying that the release was not its responsibility, but that of the Shin Bet intelligence service and the Prison Authority.

In addition to the pressure from the head of National Security, however, there is also pressure from other government partners, such as the head of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli, who asked in the chat broadcast by local media: “Why is this man released, in whose hospital hostages were murdered and a Hamas command center operated?”

The Minister of Settlements and National Missions, Orit Strock, describes the discharge as “unthinkable”, determined and not using a Cabinet assembly, whereas the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Carhi, requires the formation of a brand new “security leadership” in Israel. (Efe)