Gaza: As Israel's war on Gaza completes one year, Al-Shifa hospital, which once used to be the pride of Gaza's medical community, has become a symbol of the devastation caused by the Israeli bombing.
The Two Israeli Military 'Operations' That Reduced Al-Shifa To Rubble
The Al-Shifa Hospital was destroyed in the two Israeli military bombardments in November 2023 and March 2024 reducing the once bustling hospital to a mound of rubble. While the emergency department has since reopened, the rest of the sprawling complex lies in ruins.
Abu Jaafar, a doctor at the hospital, told AFP that in order to revive the ward, staff had to "pull dialysis machines from under the rubble".
Al-Shifa Director Detained, 'Tortured' For Months
Besides destroying the hospital, the Israeli military detained the director of Al-Shifa, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, for more than seven months. Salmiya claimed that he was "tortured" by the Israeli military during detention.
Israeli Tanks Storm Hospital Complex
The Israeli military launched the first “operation” at Al-Shifa on the night of November 15 storming tanks into the complex when at least 2,300 people were inside the hospital complex, according to the United Nations. The inmates included Gazans seeking shelter from the devastation of war.
According to an AFP Correspondent, who was among the displaced, gunfire and explosions terrified patients, staff and others seeking refuge from the war.
2nd Assault In Four Months
On March 19, Israeli forces launched a second assault on the hospital, again using tanks with the soldiers combing through the hospital premises for 11 days in a row. The Israel's military said they had killed "200 terrorists", and that they had found many weapons after completing the “operation”.
Gaza's civil defence agency, which carries out rescue work across the Palestinian coastal enclave, said at least 300 bodies were found inside the hospital premises after the Israeli military raids.
Command Centre Or Health facility?
Israel's military said it raided Al-Shifa, which it said was used by Hamas and other Palestinian militants as a “command centre” to conduct operations.
The Israeli military, in order to defend its allegations, held press events and aired videos it said proved that troops had found tunnels beneath the site. However, specialists have questioned the veracity of the footage.
Israeli authorities also said that several of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 had been held in hospitals. Hostages released during a brief truce in November reported being held in hospitals or places that resembled them.
The Israeli military also said that the bodies of at least two hostages identified as Noa Marciano and Yehudit Weiss, were found close to Al-Shifa.
Hamas Denies Allegations
Hamas denied using hospitals as command centres while human rights organisations criticised Israel over its conduct of the war.
Death Toll
While the Hamas killed 1,205 people most of them civilians on the Israeli side after the militant group launched the raids in October 7, 2023, Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 41,431 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to data provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The United Nations has described these figures as reliable.
From Ordinary Hospital To Gaza's Largest Healthcare Centre
Established in 1946, two years before the founding of Israel, Al-Shifa evolved from a "rather almost colonial and basic" health facility into Gaza's largest health care centre, said Palestinian-American Yara Asi, an academic at the University of Central Florida who specialises in access to healthcare in war zones.
According to Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a Palestinian-British surgeon who spent the first 43 days of the war treating the wounded, Al-Shifa became one of Gaza's best-known institutions.
"With each war, this hospital became more important," said Abu-Sittah, referring to the previous four wars in Gaza in 2008-9, 2012, 2014 and 2021.
Beyond Al-Shifa, the Palestinian territory's health system has largely collapsed, with the World Health Organization estimating that just a handful of clinics remain operational.
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