NEW DELHI: After a two-week operation, Israeli forces announced their withdrawal from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday. Their departure revealed a grim scene: a wasteland of demolished buildings and Palestinian bodies strewn across the complex grounds.
Hundreds of residents rushed to the area around the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital to check on damage to the surrounding residential districts after fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group that administers Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents. Hamas and medical staff deny that Palestinian fighters have any armed presence in hospitals.
According to a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service, two individuals were reportedly executed by Israeli forces, their bodies discovered at the complex with handcuffs. Additionally, bulldozers were allegedly employed to excavate the grounds of the complex, uncovering buried bodies.
Unverified footage circulated on social media depicted the bodies of deceased Palestinians, some covered in soiled blankets, strewn across the ground near the burnt remains of the hospital building. Many outer walls of the building were missing.
The footage also revealed extensive damage to the hospital grounds, with numerous structures outside the facility either flattened or engulfed in flames.
“I haven’t stopped crying since I arrived here, horrible massacres were committed by the occupation here,” said Samir Basel, 43, speaking to Reuters via a chat app as he toured Al Shifa.
“The place is destroyed, buildings have been burnt and destroyed. This place needs to be rebuilt – there is no Shifa hospital anymore,” Basel said.
Israel said operations inside Al Shifa had been conducted “while preventing harm to civilians, patients and medical teams”.
(With input form agency)
Hundreds of residents rushed to the area around the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital to check on damage to the surrounding residential districts after fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group that administers Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents. Hamas and medical staff deny that Palestinian fighters have any armed presence in hospitals.
According to a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service, two individuals were reportedly executed by Israeli forces, their bodies discovered at the complex with handcuffs. Additionally, bulldozers were allegedly employed to excavate the grounds of the complex, uncovering buried bodies.
Unverified footage circulated on social media depicted the bodies of deceased Palestinians, some covered in soiled blankets, strewn across the ground near the burnt remains of the hospital building. Many outer walls of the building were missing.
The footage also revealed extensive damage to the hospital grounds, with numerous structures outside the facility either flattened or engulfed in flames.
“I haven’t stopped crying since I arrived here, horrible massacres were committed by the occupation here,” said Samir Basel, 43, speaking to Reuters via a chat app as he toured Al Shifa.
“The place is destroyed, buildings have been burnt and destroyed. This place needs to be rebuilt – there is no Shifa hospital anymore,” Basel said.
Israel said operations inside Al Shifa had been conducted “while preventing harm to civilians, patients and medical teams”.
(With input form agency)