Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces. AFP
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces. AFP
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces. AFP
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, and several other medical personnel have been arrested by Israeli forces. AFP

Israel arrests Al Shifa director as Gaza Health Ministry to cease co-ordination with UN


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Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

Gaza's Health Ministry has said it will stop co-ordinating with the World Health Organisation in evacuating patients and medical staff from hospitals, following the arrest of the director of Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in the besieged enclave.

“We condemn the arrest of Muhammad Abu Salmiya and a number of medical personnel held by the occupation forces. He left the complex with the UN and WHO following evacuation orders from the occupation with dozens of patients and health workers,” Gaza's Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra told The National.

“We are calling all sides to take responsibility to release the doctor and those with him. This is a crime against humanity."

The doctor was arrested as part of a UN convoy evacuating patients from Al Shifa, Mr Al Qudra said.

“The army stopped the convoy at a checkpoint separating the northern and southern Gaza Strip for seven hours and the soldiers dealt with extreme violence with the medical staff, the wounded, the sick and those accompanying them.”

"The matter ended with the arrest of Mr Salmiya."

Palestinians gather outside one of the departments in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, photographed during an Israeli army tour. AFP
Palestinians gather outside one of the departments in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, photographed during an Israeli army tour. AFP

He later confirmed the ministry will cease work with WHO in evacuating staff and patients from hospitals, which have been increasingly targeted by Israeli forces in recent days, and said the UN and Israel bear responsibility for his arrest.

More than 400 people were evacuated from the Indonesian Hospital on Wednesday night, officials have said. The complex continues to be surrounded by Israeli forces.

The military has said the hospital, which doctors say has had no food, water or electricity for almost two weeks, is home to "militant activity" and threatened to storm it on Thursday morning.

Mr Al Qudra also called the arrest a “terrorist move” against Gaza’s health care and workers “who have been working under extreme and difficult circumstances for the last 47 days.”

Al Shifa Hospital has become a flashpoint in Israel’s war against Hamas, which began when gunmen from the militant group crossed the border into Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.

Israeli officials have told media outlets that the hospital director was arrested by military intelligence along with several doctors.

An unnamed military official told Haaretz that Mr Abu Salmiya was arrested while heading to southern Gaza through the “humanitarian corridor”

The Israeli army has forced patients and displaced Palestinians seeking shelter in and around the hospital to evacuate so they can continue inspecting the building for possible Hamas infrastructure.

Israeli reporters have filmed what they say are Hamas tunnels under the complex, the presence of which Hamas, and Al Shifa officials, have strongly denied.

Last week, Israeli soldiers stormed the hospital after encircling it and bombing adjacent areas, killing scores of people, as about 1,500 people, 600 patients and about 700 staff sheltered inside.

The hospital has been providing medical care for thousands who are injured.

Hospitals in line of fire

Israel accuses Hamas of using the medical centre as a shield for its operations and claims to have found a tunnel complex under the structure. There are reports of continuing fighting near the hospital, although the Israeli army has said the area is under their control.

Fighting also continues around other health facilities in the beleaguered enclave.

Elsewhere, in the east of Khan Younis, at least 14 people were killed and 13 injured in air strikes on Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which said Wednesday was the deadliest night since the beginning of the war in early October.

More than 14,500 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes so far, according to the Health Ministry.

"Dozens" were reported killed in several strikes across the north, including in Jabalia refugee camp and Beit Lahia, while Wafa reported Israeli forces shooting at "anyone who moved" in densely populated residential areas of Gaza city.

Scores were also killed in Israeli bombardments on Sheikh Radwan, while an "entire residential square" was bombed in Beit Lahia.

Photojournalist Muhammad Ayash and his family were killed after his home was bombed in Nuseirat camp, the outlet added, while the headquarters of a charity was also bombed, killing an internally displaced person sheltering in a building behind the Kuwaiti Hospital.

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs
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Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

The hotel

Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

 Events and tours

There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

More information

For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com

MATCH INFO

Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

While you're here
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions

 

 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

RESULT

Liverpool 4 Southampton 0
Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')

Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Types of bank fraud

1) Phishing

Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

2) Smishing

The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

3) Vishing

The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

4) SIM swap

Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

5) Identity theft

Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

6) Prize scams

Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

Updated: November 24, 2023, 7:35 AM`