After a two-week “raid,” the Israeli military left Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, yesterday. The hospital is now in ruins, and witnesses report the mutilation and execution of hundreds of Palestinians.
Israel has claimed that the hospital served as a terrorist base and that during the military operation it seized weapons and intelligence documents and killed and arrested hundreds of Palestinian militants.
However, journalists and human rights activists paint a different picture, and a number of photos and videos have been posted on social media showing charred and mutilated bodies from the hospital compound – including a number of baby corpses.
Hossam Shabat is a Palestinian reporter who has covered the invasion of Gaza from close up, and he writes on X about what he saw when he visited the hospital area.
“I have been working nonstop for the past 6 months covering what’s happening in Gaza, but what I saw today while visiting Al-Shifa hospital was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before : Israeli occupation forces executed 300 Palestinians in and around the hospital, and this morning, I witnessed hundreds of bodies outside the hospital, their wasn’t one full body all the bodies were either pieces or heavily mutilated”.
He goes on to say that many of the bodies had their hands and legs bound – and that many of them had been flattened by bulldozers or similar vehicles.
“Many of the bodies were burned and left to be crushed to pieces. Several bodies were decomposed and partly eaten by stray dogs. Most of the bodies were unrecognizable; families could only identify them by their clothes”.
I have been working nonstop for the past 6 months covering what’s happening in Gaza, but what I saw today while visiting Al-Shifa hospital was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before :
Israeli occupation forces executed 300 Palestinians in and around the hospital, and this…
— حسام شبات (@HossamShabat) April 1, 2024
“Successful” operation
The journalist has also published a series of very graphic and disturbing images and video clips on his X account showing mutilated, scarred and burned bodies from the hospital area, adding weight to his story.
Similar testimony has come from other reporters and human rights activists on the ground, and hundreds of patients are said to have been inside the hospital when it was stormed.
However, Israel describes the operation itself as “successful” and has previously claimed that any civilian deaths in its attacks are due to Hamas and other Palestinian groups using them as human shields.
