Yakoota Al Ahmad and Tarek Chouiref
21 July 2025•Update: 21 July 2025
GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL
An Israeli undercover unit has detained Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of field hospitals in the Gaza Strip, during a deadly raid near a Red Cross facility in the southern city of Rafah, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Al-Hams, who also heads Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, was abducted while visiting a field hospital affiliated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the ministry said, calling the abduction “a grave violation” of international humanitarian law.
Eyewitnesses and security sources told Anadolu that armed men in a 4x4 vehicle opened fire on a group of civilians at a seaside café across from the Red Cross hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza before abducting Al-Hams. The assault killed two Palestinians and injured an ambulance driver, they added.
No official Israeli statement had been issued on the abduction.
The Health Ministry said the kidnapping marks “an alarming escalation” and a direct attack on humanitarian workers, describing Al-Hams as “a leading medical voice exposing the suffering of children, wounded patients, and starving civilians.” It demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
In a separate statement, the Government Media Office in Gaza condemned the raid as “a full-fledged war crime.” It accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the ambulance carrying Al-Hams and held Tel Aviv responsible for his safety.
The Palestinian group Hamas said Israeli forces shot directly at the ambulance, killing journalist Tamer Al-Za’anin and wounding others. The group called it part of “a systematic campaign to terrorize and silence Gaza’s medical community,” and urged international bodies — especially the Red Cross and the World Health Organization — to condemn the act and pressure Israel to release all detained medical workers.
Al-Hams has long served as a key spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry, regularly reporting on attacks against medical staff and facilities.
Among those previously detained by Israeli forces was Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
