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Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa hospital and several other doctors were reportedly detained by Israeli forces amid a delayed reported truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Abu Salmiya was reportedly taken away while evacuating the facility with a World Health Organization convoy, an ER doctor inside the hospital at the time told Al-Jazeera News via CNN. The Israeli Defense Forces didn't confirm that Abu Salmiya was arrested, but did say he "needs to be questioned," when reached for comment by CNN, according to the network.
"He was in constant state of denial saying it doesn't happen. How could a General Manager of the hospital not know about the extent of the tunnel system?" IDF Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN's Max Foster on Thursday (November 23).
"We need to see exactly what he can share with us about his knowledge," the IDF spokesperson went on to say.
Abu Salmiya's reported detainment comes amid reports that a truce between Israel and Hamas set to begin Thursday morning has now been delayed until Friday (November 24) due to what an Israeli official described to CNN as "minor implementation details."
At least 1,200 people, including at least 33 American citizens, were killed and more than 3,400 were injured in the initial terror attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7, Reuters reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, "we are in a war," in a video shared on social media after the attacks, which included land, air and sea as Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel's southern border and fired rockets from the Gaza Strip.
At 13,000 people are reported to have died in retaliation attacks on Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said via Reuters.