Israel-Gaza updates: More hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has accused Israeli authorities of arresting the head of an ambulance service in the Gaza Strip, among other medical staff, during the evacuation of patients and the injured from Al-Shifa Hospital.

"We are deeply concerned about our colleague Awni Khattab, director of the Khan Yunis Ambulance Center, who was arrested yesterday evening and taken to an unknown destination, while a convoy evacuating the wounded from Al-Shifa Hospital passed through the barrier that separates the northern Gaza Strip from its southern one," the PRCS said in a statement on Thursday.

"We hold the [Israeli] occupation authorities fully responsible for the safety of our colleague Khattab, and we demand the immediate release of him and all the medical teams who were detained," the PRCS added. "We call on the international community to provide urgent protection for medical personnel, in accordance with international humanitarian law, as humanitarian and medical personnel must not be a target under any circumstances."

There was no immediate confirmation or comment from the Israel Defense Forces, which has been conducting a ground raid of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for days. However, the IDF confirmed earlier Thursday that the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, was apprehended for questioning amid accusations that “there was extensive Hamas terrorist activity” at Gaza's largest medical complex while “under his management” -- claims which Hamas denies.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Morgan Winsor

The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority has confirmed the arrest of the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip.

"The director of the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip was apprehended and transferred for ISA questioning following evidence showing that the Shifa Hospital, under his direct management, served as a Hamas command and control center," the IDF and the ISA said in a joint statement on Thursday. "The Hamas terror tunnel network situated under the hospital also exploited electricity and resources taken from the hospital. In addition, Hamas stored numerous weapons inside the hospital and on the hospital grounds."

The IDF and the ISA alleged that Hamas militants "sought refuge within the hospital, some of them taking hostages from Israel with them," in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack. The IDF and the ISA also claimed that a "pathological report" confirms 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, was killed on the premises of Al-Shifa Hospital.

"In the hospital, under his management, there was extensive Hamas terrorist activity," the IDF and the ISA said of the Al-Shifa Hospital director, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya. "Findings of his involvement in terrorist activity will determine whether he will be subject to further ISA questioning."

Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, has denied Israel's allegations that it has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in the enclave and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians.

-ABC News' Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Hamas has accused the Israeli military of arresting the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, along with several other staff members "who remained at the facility to help patients and wounded evacuate."

"We see this move by Israel as nothing less than despicable, lacking any sense of humanity and morals," Hamas said in a statement on Thursday morning. "It is also a flagrant violation of international norms and charters, given obligations to ensure that medical personnel are never harmed, including in times of war."

Hamas noted that Al-Shifa Hospital's director, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, was in contact with International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization "to evacuate the remaining patients and wounded." The militant group, which rules Gaza, called on the ICRC, the WHO and other international bodies "to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation army to secure his release, along with the medical personnel who were arrested simply for continuing to fulfil their humanitarian duty."

In a separate statement on Thursday, Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said the arrests occurred Wednesday as the United Nations and its health arm, the WHO, led a convoy of evacuated patients and medical staff from Al-Shifa Hospital. Israeli soldiers "stopped the convoy at a checkpoint separating the northern and southern Gaza Strip for seven hours" before arresting the hospital director and other staff members, according to the health ministry.

"The [Israeli] occupation bears full responsibility for the lives and safety of detained colleagues," the ministry added. "The United Nations bears full responsibility for what happened, and we await measures on their part to address this. We decided to stop coordination with the World Health Organization until a report on what happened was submitted and all detainees were released."

There was no immediate confirmation of the event or comment from the U.N. or the WHO.

There was also no immediate confirmation of the arrests or comment from the Israel Defense Forces, which has been conducting a ground raid of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for days.

The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians -- claims that the militant group denies.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Morgan Winsor

The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning that it has carried out airstrikes on more than "300 Hamas terror targets" in the Gaza Strip over the past day.

The targets that were struck included Hamas "military command centers, underground terror tunnels, weapon storage facilities, weapon manufacturing sites, and anti-tank missile launch posts," according to a statement from the IDF.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor