People in Al-Shifa killed, detained by Israeli forces: Palestinians

By Muhammed Macid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinians, forcibly evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli army's attacks, said the people left behind in the hospital were killed or detained by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army, which has been continuing its attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, raided the Al-Shifa Hospital, located in the north of Gaza and the largest health center in the region, on March 18.

Israeli forces continued the siege of the hospital, which they had previously attacked on the grounds that it was the "command center of Hamas."

Palestinians Mohammed Murshid and Imad Murshid are among the injured who were forcibly deported to the south of the Gaza Strip after Israel's raid on Al-Shifa hospital.

Speaking to an Anadolu reporter, the Palestinians stated that after being forcibly removed from the Al-Shifa Hospital in the western part of Gaza City, they walked until they reached the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Deir el-Balah region in the central parts of the Gaza Strip, and took shelter in this hospital for treatment.

Noting that the Israeli army bombed Al-Shifa Hospital and burned some parts of it on fire, the Palestinians said the streets around the hospital in the western part of Gaza City were full of bodies of those who died in the attacks that have been going on for a week.

- 'They tied us up, put us in house set on fire next to Al-Shifa'

Muhammed Murhid said: "We were on the upper floor of Al-Shifa Hospital, but left because we were targeted with a rocket. Me, my brother, my cousin, and another citizen were wounded there."

Indicating that they wanted to go down to the ground floor of the hospital and surrender to Israeli soldiers, Murshid said: "We went down to surrender to the army and ask for help. The soldiers filmed us with a camera and asked us to take off our clothes. They tied us, including the wounded, and put us in a house that had been set on fire next to the Al-Shifa Hospital."

Underlining that the Israeli army detained the people in the hospital, Murshid continued: "During the detention period, they put women and children in a separate room, and men in a separate room.

"During this process, they blindfolded me with a piece of cloth and said the execution soldier was not here. Because not every soldier carried out executions."

Stressing that the Israeli army detained them for three days without interrogation, Murshid noted that three days later, he took the soldiers' IDs, took their photos, and asked them to go to the south of Gaza.

They came across the dead bodies of people killed by Israeli soldiers along the way from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, Murshid said, adding that the Israeli army executed Palestinians, and also bombed their houses or set them ablaze.

He emphasized that after being surrounded in the Al-Shifa Hospital, they used fresh drinking water mixed with salt water to sustain themselves for a while, and spent the day with a piece of bread.

- 'Al-Shifa subjected to destruction and some parts set on fire'

A 45-year-old Palestinian, Imad Murshid underscored that they were able to buy a bottle of water a day during their detention, adding: "Al-Shifa Hospital was subjected to destruction and some parts of it were set on fire and burned. Those inside were either killed or detained and taken to an unknown place." said.

The army raided the hospital, the largest medical facility in the territory that houses thousands of patients and displaced people, on March 18.

According to Gaza’s government media office, more than 250 Palestinians have been killed and injured in the Israeli raid on the facility.

Israel first raided the Al-Shifa Hospital last November, arguing that the Palestinian group Hamas used it as a command center.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel from Istanbul