A total massive destruction and horrific massacres were left in Al-Shifa Medical Complex after the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Monday following a two-week siege and attack.
The largest and most extensive incursion into Gaza City, since the start of Israeli war on 7 October, changed the features of Al-Shifa Hospital, which was considered the largest hospital in the Strip. The facades of the hospital buildings were black due to the bombing and systematic destruction carried out by the IOF troops.
The IOF burned the main emergency and reception building, destroying dozens of its rooms along with all of the medical equipment inside, and destroyed entire floors of the Specialized Surgery Building during the military operation.
The buildings housing the outpatient clinics, the morgues, the cancer and burn units, and the kidney and maternity buildings were all destroyed.
The Al-Shifa Hospital’s rubble was strewn throughout the courtyards, and many of the dead bodies were discovered there, as well as along the surrounding roads.
As a result of the intensive bombing, which destroyed the entire equipment and buildings, the hospital was declared officially out of work. This would compound the tragedy for Gaza City’s citizens, who now have nowhere to go for medical care following the Red Crescent Hospital’s destruction in the early weeks of the conflict and the hospital’s forced relocation of its personnel and patients to the central and southern regions of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile; dozens of decomposed bodies were found in the square while residents recovered nearly 50 dead bodies in the first hours after the withdrawal.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman, Major Mahmoud Basal, said on Monday that, following the Israeli withdrawal, about 300 bodies were found in the Shifa complex and its surroundings.
The hospital was placed under strict siege by the IOF, forcing the medical staff and patients to stay in one of the administrative buildings without food or medication deliveries.
107 patients, the majority of whom were challenging cases in the intensive care unit, and 60 medical personnel were present during the attack.
According to eyewitnesses; several victims were found handcuffed, which confirms that they were subjected to field executions after their arrest.
The occupation forces executed a number of patients’ companions, while a number of them were arrested, and others were forced to forcibly move to the central and southern areas of Gaza, the sources added.
Given the number of bodies found beneath the debris of the damaged buildings near the Shifa Complex, it is anticipated that the death toll will increase dramatically.
The level of destruction surpassed by all previous bombings and invasions of the area left the area akin to a ghost town.
The infrastructure, particularly the water supplies, was also destroyed, making it impossible for the locals to move back and resume their lives there.
One day earlier, the government media office in Gaza declared that the IOF had murdered over 400 Palestinians and demolished and burned 1,050 homes near the Shifa Medical Complex.
This is the second Israeli attack on the Shifa Medical Complex since the beginning of the war on 7 October. They stormed it for the first time on 16 November after one-week siege.
The hospital’s courtyards, some of its buildings, medical supplies, equipment, and electricity generator were all destroyed during the first attack.
The international community must move quickly in response to the latest attack on the Al-Shifa Medical Complex to protect patients’ rights, provide them with the care they need, and hold the Israeli occupation responsible for any violations of international humanitarian law, which mandates the safety of hospitals and their staff during hostilities.
Since Oct. 7, the Israeli occupation forces launched a bloody aggression on the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of victims, causing a severe humanitarian and health catastrophe, and massive destruction of infrastructure
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law as it exposes civilians’ lives to extreme danger, which requires an immediate international intervention.
