A senior officer in Israel’s secretive security agency has been blamed for the decision to release a Gaza hospital chief linked to the Hamas terror organization.
By World Israel News Staff
The controversial release of 50 Gazan security prisoners earlier this week, including the director of a Gaza hospital used by Hamas terrorists to imprison Israeli captives taken on October 7th, was carried out by the Shin Bet internal security agency, according to a new report Thursday.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that as part of an investigation ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whose office is responsible for directing the Shin Bet – the agency filed a preliminary report which found that the Shin Bet had compiled a listed of prisoners to release, at the behest of the National Security Council.
The move was taken amid pressure from the Supreme Court, which had criticized the government overcrowding at the Sde Teimanim detention center, an army facility where Gaza terrorists and other security prisoners captured since October 7th have been held.
A senior Shin Bet officer reportedly okayed the release of the fifty prisoners, including Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital.
Abu Salmiya was captured by Israeli forces in late November, and held over his suspected ties to the Hamas terror organization, including the group’s use of the hospital before and after October 7th.
The Shin Bet officer is said to have cleared Abu Salmiya’s release, citing assessments that he was unlikely to engage directly in terror activity upon being released, though his return to Gaza could serve to boost morale in Hamas.
On Wednesday, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar submitted his agency’s findings to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The agency has reportedly taken disciplinary actions against the senior officer responsible for Abu Salmiya’s release.
The internal Shin Bet investigation corroborated claims by Bar’s critics – including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for Bar’s termination – that the agency was in fact responsible for the suspects’ release.
However, the report also chided Ben-Gvir, accusing him of failing to secure more jail cells in recent months despite an upsurge in terrorist arrests.
The Israel Prison Service falls under the purview of Ben-Gvir’s ministry.