The Israeli occupation forces committed a war crime by storming Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza with hundreds of soldiers. Surrounding the hospital from all sides, the occupation forces cut off communications and launched a violent assault on the very institution that provides life-saving care to the Palestinian people.
🔴 الجيش الإسرائيلي يقتحم مستشفى الشفاء في غزة، وينشر لقطات لسحق سيارات الموظفين كانت مركونة بجانب المستشفى pic.twitter.com/pqVbYTB4Jr
— الصين بالعربية (@mog_china) November 15, 2023
The Director-General of Hospitals in Gaza, Mohammad Zaqout, indicated that large forces from the occupation army entered the internal sections of the Al-Shifa Complex. Astonishingly, the occupation soldiers then brazenly asked those within the hospital to leave through a supposedly safe route, only to open fire on the doctors as they complied with this request.
Zaqout confirmed that “the occupation stormed more than one hospital and did not find any presence of members of Hamas or any Palestinian faction.”
‘We Cannot Reach the Pharmacy’!
The director of Gaza’s Shifa Medical Complex, Muhammad Abu Salamiya, has revealed the ongoing presence of the occupation army within several hospital buildings. In a concerning development, Abu Salamiya emphasized the severe challenges faced by medical personnel, stating, “We cannot reach the pharmacy to treat patients, as the occupation shoots everyone who moves.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera, the director detailed the disturbing actions taken by the occupation army, including interrogations of hospital workers across various departments. Notably, essential services such as water, electricity, and oxygen have been cut off from all hospital departments, exacerbating the already dire situation.
Abu Salamiya further highlighted the critical issue of closed hospital departments, inaccessible to both entry and exit for those detained within. This has resulted in a distressing lack of communication with medical professionals, making it impossible to inquire about the well-being of patients, particularly premature babies.
Inside Al-Shifa Hospital, credible sources report that the occupation army is currently detaining more than 200 Palestinians in the hospital courtyard. Disturbingly, detainees within the hospital premises have been subjected to arrests, with Israeli forces compelling them to remove their clothing.
This development underscores the urgent need for international attention and intervention to ensure the safety of medical facilities and personnel in Gaza, as well as the humane treatment of individuals seeking medical care. The presence of the occupation army within hospital premises not only jeopardizes patient care but also violates the sanctity of medical spaces, contravening international norms and human rights standards.
The consequences of this heinous act were devastating.
As the Israeli attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital unfolded in the early hours of the morning, martyrs were tragically lost, and numerous others were left wounded in their wake.
This horrifying incident occurred amidst a series of raids launched by the occupation forces, relentlessly targeting the hospital courtyards.
The implications of these attacks cannot be understated. “Most of the hospitals in northern and southern Gaza are out of service due to the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Strip,” states the government media office in Gaza.
The deliberate targeting of hospitals and medical teams has been a recurring theme since the inception of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
Regrettably, this latest assault adds to the grim tally of 198 doctors, nurses, and paramedics killed, 55 ambulances targeted, and 25 hospitals.
The wickedness of the Israeli occupation forces was further highlighted when it became clear that their assault on Al-Shifa Hospital yielded no evidence of any Hamas members or affiliated individuals.
Communications were abruptly cut off with the Shifa Complex, leaving the fate of those inside shrouded in uncertainty. This act of lockdown accompanied the occupation forces’ threats to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, creating a harrowing environment of siege and continuous fire on the hospital buildings and departments.
The responsibility for the safety and well-being of the thousands of medical staff, wounded individuals, and displaced persons trapped within Al-Shifa Hospital ultimately lies with the Israeli occupation, the international community, and the United States of America.
The Palestinian government media office sternly warned against the potential of a massacre unfolding at the hospital, urging swift and decisive action to prevent such a tragedy.
Responses from political factions were swift and unequivocal.
US Held Accountable
Hamas held the Israeli occupation and US President Joe Biden accountable for the storming of the Shifa complex, decrying the White House’s endorsement of the occupation’s narrative as a green light for the potential perpetration of massacres.
Similarly, the Islamic Jihad movement condemned the United States as a partner in this crime, asserting that the occupation’s inability to achieve military goals in Gaza had led to its cruelty towards innocent civilians and patients.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qudra, painted a distressing image of the dire situation inside the Al-Shifa complex. Approximately 10,000 people, including displaced individuals, remained without protection, food, or water. Al-Qudra revealed that crews had been forced to bury 100 martyrs in the courtyard of the medical complex as the bodies had begun to decompose, a grim reminder of the ongoing violence and suffering inflicted upon the people of Gaza.
It should be noted that over the past 40 days the number of martyrs has exceeded 11,300, including 4,000 children, following Israeli strikes targeting homes, hospitals, mosques, churches and others.
A demonstration unfolded in front of the White House on Wednesday, condemning the incursion of occupation forces into the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza. Demonstrators assembled in the morning to vehemently oppose the Israeli occupation forces’ intrusion into the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip, which occurred at dawn.
The protesters passionately voiced slogans in solidarity with the people of Gaza, denouncing the Israeli occupation forces’ actions in storming the Al-Shifa Medical Complex. The demonstration served as a powerful expression of resistance against the ongoing challenges faced by the residents of Gaza.
The White House has officially stated the imperative need to safeguard hospitals and prioritize the protection of patients. It has explicitly communicated its non-support for aerial bombings targeting hospitals and strongly opposes any form of armed conflict within their premises, but nothing practical unfolded yet.
Save Al-Shifa Hospital
The situation has become catastrophic at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza. The bodies of the martyrs are still in the area, and some of them have begun to decompose. Hundreds of patients and wounded are now facing the risk of death, while the name of Al-Shifa Hospital topped the “X” site against the backdrop of Israeli army forces storming, at dawn on Wednesday, the courtyards of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of the city.
Activists sent a unified call to help those trapped in the complex through the hashtag “#Save_Al-Shifa_Hospital.”
🆘️ SAVE AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL ‼️
CHILDREN ARE DYING❗️
WOMEN ARE DYING❗️
CIVILIANS ARE DYING❗️ https://t.co/981M6IWSvn— Mister J. – مسٹر جے (@Angryman_J) November 15, 2023
Death Toll of the IOF Rises
While on the Israeli side, the occupying army acknowledged the death of two of its officers during ground fighting with the Resistance in the Gaza Strip. The occupying army also announced that 4 other soldiers were injured during the fighting in northern Gaza.
These new deaths bring to 49 the number of deaths in the ranks of the Israeli army following the ground fighting in Gaza. 368 Israeli soldiers and 59 police officers have been killed since October 7.
Source: Al-Manar English Website and Palestinian media
