Israeli occupation forces abducted today Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of field hospitals and spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health. The special armed unit seized him after he concluded a medical visit to the Red Cross field hospital in far southwestern Khan Younis, according to witnesses and health officials.
The abduction operation, described by Palestinian officials as a grave violation, resulted in the killing of photojournalist Tamer Za'anin and the injury of Bilal Barhoum, accompanying Dr. Al-Hams, alongside photojournalist Ibrahim Abu Osheiba.
Za'anin was reportedly on assignment to interview Al-Hams when he was shot in the upper body by the same armed uniit, while Abu Osheiba was hit in the chest and rushed to Nasser Medical Complex for urgent surgery.
An eyewitness told Al Manassa that a group of unidentified and masked armed men opened fire on a group of citizens outside the Red Cross field hospital, killing one person and injuring two.
Dr. Al-Hams was then kidnapped and driven in a four-wheel-drive vehicle south along the coastal road, towards areas where Israeli occupation forces are heavily positioned.
“The assailants deliberately targeted and neutralized those present to swiftly seize Dr. Al-Hams drove him southward along the coastal road toward an area under Israeli military control,” the witness said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
“The vehicle headed toward the Al-Alam area in Rafah, which is uninhabited and controlled by the Israeli army,” the witness said. “Only soldiers or those who work with them can enter.”
The Ministry of Health in Gaza condemned the abduction, calling it “a dangerous precedent and a direct assault on the voice of patients, the hungry and the tortured in Gaza.”
In a statement, the ministry said the kidnapping of its spokesperson — who had been conveying the suffering of patients and children throughout the war — “reflects a calculated attempt to silence truth and obscure the crimes of the occupation.”
Holding Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for Al-Hams’s safety, the ministry demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
This incident is not isolated, as the abduction of doctors and medical personnel has become a recurring tactic by the occupation. On Oct. 26, 2024, Israeli forces detained Dr. Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon with MSF, along with medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
The grim toll of this tactic includes deaths in custody, as the OHCHR reported that three abducted physicians from Gaza have died in Israeli custody to date, including Dr. Ziad Eldalou.
Escalating Israeli offensive
Meanwhile, Israeli armored units advanced Monday into southwestern Deir Al-Balah, pushing west of Salah Al-Din Street amid heavy shelling, two witnesses told Al Manassa.
According to them, tanks moved alongside Wadi Al-Salqa after razing farmland toward the Al-Hakar area, where they opened fire on homes still sheltering civilians.
Warplanes destroyed nine homes and three mosques in Abu Holi and flattened three residential buildings in the Um Zuhair area.
One of the witnesses told Al Manassa that Israeli occupation forces were carrying out large-scale demolition and bulldozing in areas they had not entered since the genocide began nearly 22 months ago.
As these operations continued, casualties mounted, and retrieving them became a desperate challenge. A spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Manassa they had received distress calls from families reporting casualties in the combat zones but were only able to retrieve three bodies due to intense artillery fire and gunfire.
Adding to the unfolding humanitarian crisis, a World Health Organization (WHO) medicine warehouse in southern Deir al-Balah was struck by Israeli artillery, igniting a fire that consumed its contents. A WHO official confirmed the blaze raged for over three hours, with civil defense crews unable to access the site.
Israeli troops also raided a temporary residence sheltering local WHO staff and their families. The official, speaking anonymously, stated that men were detained while women and children were permitted to leave westward toward safer zones.
Civilian toll mounts
More than 40 fatalities and dozens of injuries arrived at Gaza hospitals today, according to a health ministry source. The ministry's daily update reported 134 deaths and 1,155 injuries in the previous 24 hours.
Numerous victims remain under rubble or in streets inaccessible to emergency crews due to ongoing bombardment. Since the war on Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, the toll has risen to 59,029 deaths and 142,135 injuries, the ministry said.
On March 18, Israel resumed its military campaign on Gaza. The assault follows a broken cease-fire deal, brokered in January, that was due to end with the exchange of captives and a full Israeli withdrawal.
Since then, Israel has kept border crossings shut, denying entry to humanitarian convoys, creating what rights groups call a “man-made famine,” with families surviving on animal feed or enduring days without eating.
Despite the escalating human toll, cease-fire efforts remain ongoing. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the US are engaged in talks, with a proposal of a 60-day halt to hostilities on the table.
