After their second strike in Gaza City, Israeli forces withdrew from the massive al-Shifa hospital complex on April 1. Stunned Palestinians rummaged through the burnt remains and declared the area reeked of death.
Hospitals have been targeted repeatedly throughout the course of the last eight months of fighting, with Israel saying that Hamas uses them as bases; however, the organization disputes this accusation.
However, there have undoubtedly been the most dramatic developments at al-Shifa, which was formerly the largest and most advanced medical center in the Gaza Strip.
The two-week surprise operation was described by the Israeli authorities as “precise and surgical,” and it was initiated after they claimed that Hamas had regrouped at the facility.
According to its spokesperson, Avi Hyman, it had established “the gold standard of urban warfare”.
“We eliminated over 200 terrorists,” he declared. We captured more than 900 terrorists without losing a single member of the public.
Decomposing bodies poked out from the sand mounds created by military bulldozers in al-Shifa courtyards, raising questions about the first claim that no civilians had been killed.
Search teams from Palestine have reported finding several hundred remains at the site after discovering four mass graves in recent weeks.
We have followed happenings in Gaza together with a journalist.
