Rafah, Gaza — Israeli special forces have arrested Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah and a key figure overseeing field hospitals across Gaza, in what Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses are calling a violent daylight raid.
According to Palestinian media reports, the operation was carried out by a covert Israeli unit that stormed the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, abducting Dr. al-Hams in broad daylight.
During the assault, veteran journalist Tamer al-Zaanin was shot and killed as he arrived at the hospital to report on medical conditions. In contrast, three others were wounded, including an ambulance driver and a photojournalist.
Eyewitnesses and the Palestinian Government Media Office say Israeli soldiers opened fire directly at an ambulance transporting Dr. al-Hams and others, calling the act a “war crime” and a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health issued a strong condemnation of the arrest, describing it as a “dangerous precedent” and a “direct targeting of the voices of the sick, the hungry, and the suffering in the Gaza Strip.”
“This cowardly act targeted one of the most prominent humanitarian and medical voices who conveyed to the world the pain of children dying of hunger, the suffering of the wounded who are deprived of medicine, and the cries of mothers at hospital gates,” the ministry’s statement read. It demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. al-Hams and called the raid a “serious violation of freedom of expression and humanitarian action.”
In a statement, Hamas also condemned the arrest, stating that it was part of a deliberate campaign to dismantle Gaza’s health sector. “This move represents a continuation of the criminal targeting of the medical sector and its staff through killing, arrest, and terror,” the group said, urging the International Committee of the Red Cross and other global bodies to take a firm stand against what it described as systemic Israeli aggression against medical personnel.
The incident has sparked outrage across Gaza and beyond, as medical infrastructure and its workers remain under relentless threat amid the ongoing war, which has devastated the healthcare system and left hospitals struggling to operate under siege.
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