Israeli military forced journalists and health workers to strip in Gaza hospital

CNN
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Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalists and health workers, blindfolded them and stripped them down to their underwear in Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, according to eyewitness accounts shared with CNN.

Palestinian reporters and hospital staff described scenes of humiliating interrogations where colleagues had been undressed and left outside in the cold, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) laid siege to the largest hospital in the enclave in the early hours of Monday. One man who was detained told CNN Israeli forces released him without his ID or mobile phone.

The Israeli military raided Al-Shifa after it claimed “senior Hamas terrorists” were using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” It claims to have detained a senior Hamas operative during the operation.

CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s statements.

Ismail Al Ghoul, an Al Jazeera journalist, told CNN he and his team were detained for 12 hours, stripped to their underwear and blindfolded throughout – despite the rain and cold. Another of the team, Ahmad al-Harazin, said that “while we were sitting [there], the [Israeli] army suddenly raided and arrested us. God Almighty kept us safe. And we were released.”

Samer Tarazi, who was also part of Al Ghoul’s team at Al-Shifa, told CNN he had just finished working at 2 a.m. local time on Monday when the Israeli military stormed the complex and detained them.

“We were blindfolded and handcuffed while we were waiting for our release. We were waiting, not knowing where we were, or where we were taken to,” he said. After his detention, the IDF told Tarazi and his colleagues to flee south, along the coastal Al Rashid Street. “We were released without getting our IDs or mobile phones back,” he added.

Al Jazeera alleged in a statement Monday that Al Ghoul and his team were detained and “severely beaten” before being taken to an undisclosed location and interrogated. The IDF told CNN they had no record of detaining Al Ghoul or his colleagues.

CNN also received an account from Dr Marwan Abu Saada, head of surgery at Al-Shifa. Abu Saada was not at the hospital when the Israeli raid began on Monday. He said on Tuesday that colleagues who had been permitted to leave the hospital reported Israeli troops breaking into most of the hospital buildings.

He said male medical staff were forced to strip and left “for hours in the cold,” an assertion made by other men who have been released from the area. “They scanned their faces with a camera and took them one by one for humiliating investigation,” he said in the account, shared with CNN by a colleague.

“Many were arrested and were taken to an unknown place, some were forced to leave the hospital and displaced to the south half naked, and others were ordered to go back to the hospital,” added Abu Saada.

“Soldiers assaulted and violated our medical staff and workers in Al-Shifa Hospital, left them without food or water for two days, taking into consideration that this is the month of Ramadan and they are fasting.”

CNN has asked the IDF for its response to the allegations levied by Saada. The IDF has not so far responded.

The IDF said in a statement Wednesday that its troops, along with those of the Israeli Security Agency, “killed approximately 90 terrorists in the area.” It added that forces questioned “over 300 suspects” and took at least 160 others to Israeli territory “for further questioning.” CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims.

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