Israeli Forces withdraw from Al-Shifa Hospital after 14-day siege

Israeli Military Forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that witnesses and Gazan authorities say left the medical facility largely destroyed.

“The situation is very bad,” said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence, on Monday. Al-Shifa is “completely destroyed and burned down. Many of its buildings are totally destroyed or charred,” he said.

“Injured and dead bodies fill the hospital grounds,” he added. “There are bodies buried in the hospital yards.”

Images from the area showed widespread destruction with charred and pockmarked buildings inside the complex.

More than 30 wounded people were transported from Al-Shifa to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital east of Gaza City, Bassal said. Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Al Shifa hospital and the area around it, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City, March 21, 2024.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed their withdrawal in a statement on Monday, saying they had completed “precise operational activity” in the area.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said about 3,000 people were inside Al-Shifa when the IDF began its raid on March 18, and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by snipers and fire from helicopters. Hamas previously accused Israel of striking targets “without regard” to the patients or medical staff inside – a claim echoed by people at the complex. (CNN)

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