On Wednesday, Israel’s military announced it had “eliminated” around 90 people and captured 160 in an assault on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital. It further stated that over 300 people were interviewed and more than 160 were imprisoned in Israel “for further investigation.”
Since yesterday, the onslaught of bombardment has continued unabated, killing numerous people as they sought to leave, their remains littered in the streets.
Many news sources have declared that the Israeli soldiers detained all of the doctors at Al Shifa Hospital, and ICU patients were left without medical attention. Last week, the BBC reported that doctors are being detained, undressed, and humiliated in Gaza.
Al-Shifa: a Fading Hope
Al-Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital before the conflict, is currently one of the few healthcare institutions that is even partially operating in the northern portion of the enclave, and it has also been hosting displaced residents.
“Over the past day, the troops have eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the hospital area, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment,” the military said in a statement.
The Israeli raid on the hospital began in the early hours of Monday. The military claimed it sent in special forces backed up by troops and tanks after receiving intelligence that the hospital was once again being exploited by gunmen.
Past claims by Israel
In November, Israeli forces attacked Al-Shifa Hospital for the first time and received harsh criticism. The forces claimed that tunnels beneath the hospital were used as Hamas command and control centres.
On October 28, the Israeli military produced a 3D animated animation depicting a vast network of tunnels leading to an ornate, multi-story control centre.
Satellite photographs and archive photos revealed that the hatch Israel claimed was the tunnel entrance was in fact part of a water reservoir system that filled therapy pools for amputees, watered the grounds, and served as an emergency water supply.
On November 3, an Israeli airstrike attacked an ambulance convoy leaving the hospital, killing 15 and injuring 60. Israel said Hamas was utilising ambulances, but The Washington Post contradicted this. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society acknowledged that Israel has previously struck the hospital’s ambulances seven times, killing four staff members.
The Israeli army ordered hundreds of Palestinians to leave Al-Shifa Hospital on November 18. On November 23, an Israeli army unit detained Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the hospital director, who had apparently been subjected to different sorts of torture.
Brutality in Nasser Hospital, BBC Report
On February 15, the IDF attacked the hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, one of the few remaining in operation in the Strip, citing intelligence that the institution held Hamas members.
They also claimed that Israeli captives abducted by Hamas on October 7 were held there, and several of the hostages have publicly said that they were held at Nasser.
The BBC also ran a video secretly taken at the hospital on February 16, the day the medics were held. It showcased a line of men stripped kneeling in front of the hospital’s emergency building, their hands behind their heads.
Report by the WHO
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 410 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since October 7. As documented by the UN agency on X, these assaults resulted in 685 deaths, 902 injuries, damage to 99 institutions, and the interruption of 104 ambulances.
Approximately 40% of the assaults took place in Gaza City, with 23% in North Gaza and 28% in Khan Younis in the south.
The WHO emphasises that healthcare should not be targeted, and it promotes adherence to international law and active protection of people and healthcare institutions
