Israel has confirmed that it is holding Gaza hospital director Dr. Abu Safiya captive, after previously telling a local NGO that it knew nothing about his case.

Specifically, as reported by the BBC, the statement from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that “currently (the director) is being investigated by the Israeli security forces”, but did not specify whether Safiya is in good health, which has caused concern.

The IDF said only that Abu Safiya was suspected by them of being a “terrorist” and that he “held rank” in Hamas,

Dr. Abu Safiya was arrested as the Israeli army forced patients and medical staff to leave Kamal Antwan hospital in northern Gaza last Friday, claiming the facility was a “stronghold of Hamas terrorists.”

It is noted that the hospital constitutes the last functioning health facility in Gaza.

Concerns about Israel’s treatment of detainees

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the IDF told Physicians for Human Rights in Israel (PHRI) that they had “no indication of the arrest or detention of the individual in question.”

PHRI filed a petition with Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday, demanding that Dr. Abu Safiya’s whereabouts be disclosed. It said the court gave the IDF a one-week deadline to comply.

Meanwhile, Amnesty chief Agnès Callamard said Israeli authorities must “urgently disclose his location.”

She said Israel had detained “hundreds of Palestinian health workers from Gaza without charge or trial” and said they had been “subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and held in solitary confinement”.

Israel denies mistreating the detainees.

Dr Abu Safiya’s family previously told BBC Arabic that they believe he is being held at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel, where Israeli forces have transferred many detainees from Gaza for interrogation and where conditions are extremely harsh for those held there.

They evacuated the hospital within 15 minutes

The IDF ordered everyone inside Kamal Antwan Hospital to leave last Friday morning, giving the hospital about 15 minutes to move patients and staff into the courtyard, medical staff told the BBC.

Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, is under the tightest Israeli blockade imposed on parts of northern Gaza since October. The UN said the area is under “almost complete siege” as the Israeli army severely restricts access for aid deliveries in an area where an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people remain.

On Saturday, the IDF said it arrested 240 militants in Kamal Antwan and said Dr. Abu Safiya was among the medical personnel detained for questioning.

Video footage showed him walking towards an Israeli armoured vehicle before he was taken in for questioning. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the arrest the same day, saying the doctor had been taken for questioning.

Dr Abu Safiya had previously been arrested by Israeli forces during an earlier raid on the hospital in October but was released shortly afterward.

During that Israeli operation, Safiya’s 15-year-old son was killed in a drone attack. Footage from later that day showed him leading a funeral prayer for his son in the hospital courtyard.