The Israeli army withdrew from Gaza’s largest hospital early Monday morning after a two-week raid, leaving behind several bodies and a vast swath of destruction, local media reported.
The military described the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in the centre of Gaza City as one of the most successful operations in the nearly six-month war. The military said the raid killed dozens of militants from Hamas and other groups, including senior officers, and seized weapons and valuable intelligence. It was confirmed on Monday that the troops had been withdrawn. The military said:
Troops have completed precise operational activity in the area of the Shifa Hospital and exited the area of the hospital
The UN health agency said several patients were killed and dozens endangered in the raid, which caused more destruction at the hospital, which had already almost ceased to function.
Mohammed Mahdi, who was among hundreds of Palestinians who returned to the neighbourhood, described a scene of “total destruction”. He said several buildings were burned to the ground and that he counted six bodies in the area, including two in the hospital courtyard.
Videos circulating on the Internet show badly damaged and charred buildings, mounds of dirt churned up by bulldozers, and patients on stretchers in dark corridors.
Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, said there were still patients, health workers and displaced people inside the medical complex after several patients were taken to the nearby Ahli hospital. Army bulldozers ploughed over an improvised cemetery in Al-Shifa’s courtyard, he said. Yahia Abu Auf added:
The situation is indescribable. The occupation destroyed all sense of life here.
Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes and has raided several medical facilities. Israel says it launched the raid on Al-Shifa after Hamas and other militants regrouped there. Gaza health officials deny the allegations.
Critics accuse the army of recklessly endangering civilians and destroying a health sector already overburdened with wounded. Palestinians say Israeli troops have forcibly evacuated homes near the hospital and forced hundreds of residents to walk south.
The military had previously raided Al-Shifa hospital in November, saying Hamas had a sophisticated command and control centre inside and under the hospital building. The military found a tunnel running under the hospital leading to several rooms, as well as weapons they said had been confiscated from medical buildings, but nothing like what had been said before the raid.
The war began on 7 October when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel responded with an air, land and sea offensive that killed at least 32,782 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The northern part of Gaza, where Al-Shifa is located, has suffered massive destruction and has been largely besieged since October, leading to mass starvation.
