Tasneem al-Hams, the daughter of a Hamas official and a registered nurse, claimed that an Israeli-backed militia abducted her and handed her to the IDF during an interview with Gazan photojournalist Ahmed Marwan.
Al-Hams said that the Abu Shabab militia abducted her and handed her over to the IDF. She claimed her interrogators told her that the military did not want anything from her, and she would soon be able to return home.
She was allegedly taken from a medical point south of Khan Yunis in early October by a group of four armed men.
The controversial NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor claimed, “The assailants blocked the nurse’s path as she headed to work, then several of them exited the vehicle, assaulted her, gagged her, and forcibly dragged her into the truck.”
“I saw a small truck carrying the belongings of displaced people, driven by a man accompanied by four others. The truck stopped, and they asked about the location of the medical point in Al-Ard Al-Tayyiba,” an alleged eyewitness told the NGO.
“It remained there for about 20 minutes. When the nurse, Tasneem al-Hams, approached, the truck moved to block her path. Four armed men then got out, covered her mouth with a piece of cloth, and forcibly pushed her into the truck, which quickly left the area amid gunfire to disperse citizens who tried to stop it.”
She was alleged to have spent an unknown period of time in solitary confinement during Israeli detention.
Tasneem al-Hams's brother, Mohammed al-Hams, told Euro-Med that his sister had been receiving threatening messages for a while.
“Tasneem was working at the Kuwait Specialised Hospital, Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, a MedGlobal medical point, and a Ministry of Health medical point in Al-Mawasi. She had been receiving blackmail messages from anonymous foreign and Palestinian numbers.
“On my way to Nasser Medical Complex, I received a message from a woman in the area saying that a special Israeli force had kidnapped my sister Tasneem. I rushed to the scene and heard from people what had happened. Until now, we know nothing about her. I contacted several human rights organisations, but they said it was a holiday period in Israel and they could not obtain any information.”
Al-Hams’s father, Hamas health official Dr. Marwan al-Hams, was released from prison on Thursday, according to the Prisoners’ Affairs Office.
Palestinian advocacy groups, including the Palestinian Center for Prisoner Advocacy, claimed the nurse was arrested as a way to pressure Dr. al-Hams.
The arrest of Hamas health official Dr. Marwan al-Hams
The Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry claimed in July that Dr. al-Hams was arrested by IDF forces while he was traveling to a Red Cross hospital in Rafah. The Hamas ministry claimed one person was killed and another wounded during the arrest after IDF soldiers opened fire.
The IDF claimed Dr. al-Hams knew the location of the now-returned body of fallen IDF soldier Lt. Hadar Goldin.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.