On 1 July, Israel abruptly released more than 50 Palestinians in a lump sum, including Mohammed Abu Sarmiya, the director of the largest hospital in Gaza, al-Shifa Hospital. Last November, he was arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after tunnels and weapons were discovered beneath the Shifa Hospital, which the Israeli military claims turned into a command center and hostage hiding place for Hamas under his leadership. Seven months have passed since Israel released no evidence that he was directly involved in terrorist activities, and under Israeli law, such "suspicious persons" cannot be detained for a maximum of seven months without evidence, which is one of the reasons for his release.
Israel's security service, Simbert, said that the reason for the release of Salmiya and others was that the prisons were already full and that they had to be forced to release "prisoners who do not pose a significant threat" in order to hold people who were considered "more dangerous". Simbert also pointed the finger at Ben Gvir, who was in charge of the police and the prison, accusing him of failing to address the lack of space in the prison in a timely manner.
Since 7 October last year, Israeli arrests of Palestinians have increased dramatically, with more than 3,000 arrests made between October and December last year alone. As a country with a population of less than 10 million, Israel's prisons can accommodate 14,500 people in normal conditions and 20,000 in emergencies, but in April this year, the actual number of inmates exceeded 21,000. In the case of the Jerusalem Detention Centre, for example, the maximum capacity was 170 people, but the actual capacity was 230. Under these conditions, some prisoners had to work on the floor, and last month, Israel had planned to arrest 20 Palestinians, but there was no place to hold them. Israel's prison resources are strained, which is a testament to the average. In order to alleviate this situation, Israel has begun to release a number of "vetted" Palestinians on a regular basis, and hundreds of them have been released recently, but they are all secretly released in the middle of the night, and there is no publicity or publicity afterwards.
After Salmia's release, there was a heated debate within Israel on the matter, with accusations and criticism that decisions should not be taken hastily. Simbert accused Security Minister Ben Gvir of not expanding the prison soon, while Ben Gvir criticized Simbert's unauthorized release of Salmia as "abandoning security" and demanded the resignation of Simbert Director Ronan Barr. Benny Gantz, a former wartime cabinet minister, demanded that Netanyahu's government take responsibility and step down for elections as soon as possible. Defense Minister Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was an independent decision for the security services and that they had no prior knowledge.
Some people, represented by the Minister of Expatriate Chikley, questioned Sarmiya's "release without compensation", implying that Israel could have exchanged Salmia and others for hostages with Hamas, and now Israel is making a "loss-making deal". But more people are bemoaning the chaos of the authorities, the easy release of such key figures without meetings and discussions, and the endless infighting afterwards, which makes people wonder what happened to the former "little bully of the Middle East". When Hamas slaughtered more than 1,400 people on October 7 last year, it took hours for the military to respond, and the vaunted intelligence system seemed to be out of order. It seems that chaos and division have not gone away and are making Israel pay the price again and again.