State comptroller to mull probing failures over release of Shifa Hospital director

Matanyahu Englman says mutual recriminations between government officials over release of Mohammad Abu Salmiya suggest fundamental problem in decision-making processes

Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Shifa Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya makes a statement after his release from Israeli prison alongside other detainees, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 1, 2024. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Shifa Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya makes a statement after his release from Israeli prison alongside other detainees, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 1, 2024. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said on Tuesday that he may open an examination into how the director of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, who is suspected of collaboration with Hamas, was released from custody by Israeli authorities earlier this week, a controversial move that various security and government officials immediately sought to distance themselves from.

Englman said he will request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provide him with any material that comes out of internal investigations into why Abu Salmiya was set free despite his apparent connections to the Palestinian terror group in order to check whether the error was reflective of deeper problems in the decision-making process on security matters.

Abu Salmiya’s release, as well as social media videos of him being greeted upon his return to Gaza, drew instant outrage in Israel, leading to a bitter round of mutual recriminations between government officials.

Speaking at a ceremony in Jerusalem Tuesday, Englman pointed out that security officials have stated that “severe crimes were carried out” in Shifa under Abu Salmiya’s watch, asserting that, “Naturally, the director of the hospital… bears responsibility.”

Noting the rancorous exchange of accusations regarding responsibility for the incident — which included National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the Israel Prisons Service and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — Englman said it was crucial to clarify how Abu Salmiya came to be released despite the agreement among Israel’s top officials that he should have remained incarcerated.

“The dialogue between political and security officials that is taking place on the issue raises concerns that no organized work was done that examined all aspects of [Abu Salmiya’s] release,” said the state comptroller.

Israel’s State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman speaks at the annual Cyberweek conference at Tel Aviv University on June 25, 2024. (Courtesy)

The Shin Bet has long warned of overcrowding in Israeli prisons, saying this was resulting in many Palestinian detainees walking free to make room for other inmates.

“After we look at the investigations we will check the need to open a review into the issue. It is essential to ensure that the process for making decisions in this matter is not symptomatic of a fundamental problem in the decision-making process for security issues,” Englman added.

He also addressed concerns regarding the transfer of Hamas terrorists that belong to its elite Nukhba force — many of whom participated in the October 7 onslaught — to the custody of the IPS, especially the vulnerability of female IDF conscripts serving in Israeli prisons adjacent to them.

A questionnaire conducted by the State Comptroller’s Office in 2022 found that 38 percent of such soldiers had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment by inmates during their service in the prisons.

“With the transfer of the Nukhba terrorists from the IDF to the IPS, some of whom were even involved in severe sex crimes, I expect the IPS to learn lessons from the report that was published,” said Englman.

He added that he would conduct his own review of the issue to ensure that prison guards in security prisons are properly protected.

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