Israeli army attacks Gaza’s largest hospital, inflicting violence and humiliation on patients, staff and displaced people trapped inside, witnesses say.
The Israeli raid on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital has spread “terror and death” among the thousands trapped inside, according to witnesses.
The Israeli army acted with brutality during its assault on Wednesday, inflicting violence and humiliation on patients, staff and displaced people, those inside Gaza’s largest hospital told Al Jazeera.
Thousands of people have been captured in al-Shifa for days as Israeli forces focus their attacks on the area around the compound, which they say is home to a Hamas base. Reports indicate that food and water are scarce while rotting corpses pile up.
Omar Zaqout, an emergency worker at al-Shifa, said Israeli soldiers “arrested and brutally attacked some of the men who were taking refuge in the hospital.”
“Israeli forces took the detained men away naked and blindfolded. (They) did not bring any aid or materials, they only brought terror and death,” he said, adding that the army surrounded all the buildings in the hospital complex.
“More than 180 corpses are deteriorating and still lying in the hospital courtyard,” he said. “The situation is very terrifying, gunshots ring out all over the hospital perimeter.”
Ahmed El Mokhallalati, a surgeon, told Al Jazeera from inside the hospital that the occupying army brought tanks inside the hospital after “gunshots, shelling and shelling.” continuous and aggressive attacks since last night.”
“It’s a totally scary time; It’s a horrible time for families, civilians who are sheltering in hospital with their children. It’s terrible for the staff who take care of their patients and for the patients themselves,” he said.
“Imagine being in a hospital where water is not there, basic hygiene of people going to the toilet is a challenge. It has now been six days without food and drinking water reaching the hospital, with no way to get anything to the hospital,” El Mokhallalati added.
He also said the oxygen station was not working and staff were generally unable to care for their patients.
The surgeon said he was shocked that “the whole world witnessed this crime and everything that was happening and no one stopped it.” No one said out loud that this was not allowed.
“Where is the international community? Where is the international organization responsible for assisting and supporting the health system in war zones to ensure that humanitarian needs are met in war zones during times of war? He asked.
“We’re all in the building now. We can’t even check through the window what’s outside, we can’t eat or drink anything, we can’t bring anything to our patients and we can’t move between buildings at all,” did he declare.
The raid on the largest medical center in the Palestinian enclave comes after five days of attacks.
It has become the center of Israel’s war in Gaza, with occupying forces, along with the United States, claiming that Hamas, the group that rules the territory, is hiding a military command center underneath.
Hamas and al-Shifa’s medical staff have rejected the allegations, calling them a “big lie.”
Israel has killed more than 11,300 people in Gaza in the war that began Oct. 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel. Israel says the Hamas attack killed at least 1,200 people.
