Photo : Collected
Once the pride of Gaza's medical community, the Palestinian territory's main Al-Shifa hospital has become a stark symbol of the utter devastation wrought by the Israel-Hamas war.
Until the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, patients received for years the best care Gazan doctors and nurses could offer, but earlier this year, they had to cease all operations.
Al-Shifa was all but destroyed in two Israeli military operations -- one in November 2023, the other in March 2024.
Israeli troops detained the director of Al-Shifa, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, for more than seven months. He claimed he was "tortured" during that time.
An emergency department has since reopened, though the rest of the sprawling complex lies in ruins, charred by the flames of war.
To revive the ward, staff had to "pull dialysis machines from under the rubble", Abu Jaafar, a doctor there, told AFP.
When Israeli tanks stormed the complex on the night of November 15, at least 2,300 people were in the hospital complex, according to the United Nations.
Many of those on the site were Gazans who had sought shelter in what they had hoped would be a safe place.
Gunfire and explosions terrified patients, staff and others seeking refuge from the war, said one AFP correspondent who was among the displaced.
On March 19, Israeli forces launched a second assault, again using tanks. For 11 days, soldiers then combed through the premises.
When they finally withdrew, Israel's military said they had killed "200 terrorists", and that they had found many weapons.
Gaza's civil defence agency, which carries out rescue work across the Palestinian coastal enclave, said at least 300 bodies were found.
Messenger/Disha
