Survivors Speak Out: Testimonies from the Al-Shifa Medical Compound Siege in Gaza
Watan-Survivors from the Al-Shifa Medical Compound massacre in Gaza reveal the “atrocities” committed by the occupying army during its 14-day siege.
On Monday morning, the occupying army completely withdrew from inside the Al-Shifa Medical Compound and the surrounding areas west of Gaza City.
Survivors from the Al-Shifa Compound speak about the invasion. Nurse Luay Abu Assi, who remained in the hospital throughout the siege, said he was working in the specialized surgery building at the Al-Shifa Medical Compound when Israeli forces suddenly stormed the hospital at 2:00 AM (12:00 GMT) on March 18th last year.
Abu Assi told Anadolu Agency: “Before the hospital was stormed, a room in the specialized surgery building was directly targeted, and some refugees were killed, while several medical staff were injured. Then the hospital gate was stormed, and all its buildings were completely besieged by Israeli forces.”
📷مئات الجثث على الأرض وفي كل مكان.. مشاهد مرعبة وصادمة بعد انسحاب قوات الاحتلال من مستشفى الشفاء . pic.twitter.com/4DxiopQUBA
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) April 1, 2024
He continued: “When the army besieged the hospital buildings, they called on us and informed us that the place was surrounded and warned us not to move or stand near the windows.”
He added: “We remained there for 24 hours; no one moved from the building, and bullets were raining down on the building from all directions. They cut off all communications completely, there was no electricity, water, or food.”
He noted that “the next day, they asked the refugees present in the building to leave. Men left first, then women. The army arrested dozens of these refugees and released the rest, instructing them to leave the hospital to the south of the Gaza Strip.”
📷الدمار الهائل بفعل نسف قوات الاحتلال عشرات المنازل في الحي الملاصق لمجمع الشفاء الطبي من الجهة الشمالية غربي مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/EutvWeflLn
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) April 1, 2024
He explained that “after that, the army started dealing with the medical staff, asking us to leave the building and arresting several doctors, forcing them to undress and torturing them in the hospital courtyard.”
“The wounds of the injured festered, and maggots emerged from them,” according to nurse Abu Assi. “The remaining medical staff and patients were transferred from the surgery building to the reception and emergency building, where they were left for two days without water or food, and they were denied medication or any medical instruments.”
He said, “Afterward, they started calling us by name, taking each one of us for interrogation and forcing them to undress.”
He added, “Some refugees and medical staff were arrested, while others were killed. There are people we don’t know whether the army arrested them or killed them; they are still missing.”
🎥”والله غير ربنا ينصرنا”… صرخة سيدة فلسطينية من داخل #مجمع_الشفاء_الطبي في #غزة pic.twitter.com/J5zhNzWJZG
— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) April 1, 2024
He pointed out that the Israeli army detained him for 12 hours, interrogated him, and soldiers beat him before releasing him and detaining him with the rest of the patients and medical staff in the “Prince Nayef” building in the hospital.
“We stayed in the Prince Nayef building for 5 days without food or medication, and the patients could not move, and some of them had complete paralysis,” he said.
He noted that the wounds of the injured festered, and maggots emerged from them due to our inability to provide any medical care for them.
The Palestinian nurse said, “After that, the army transferred us to another building in the hospital and started to provide small amounts of food and water for us. The amount of food that was supposed to be allocated for one person, the army asked it to be distributed among 20 people. The patients were screaming from pain and hunger, and some of them died.”
“We saw people being killed before our eyes,” said Palestinian Hassan Mahmoud Al-Mansi, who was receiving treatment at the hospital before being invaded by Israeli forces, speaking of the horror and torture he experienced over two weeks.
“The Israeli army stormed the hospital at 2:00 AM, and there was continuous gunfire and shelling at that time,” he said.
He added, “They transferred us from the surgery building to the reception and emergency building, and every person passed in front of Israeli army cameras and was interrogated, asking for his full name.”
He pointed out that after two days, they were transferred again from the reception and emergency building to the “Prince Nayef” building, where they were also filmed, and a number of patients, medical staff, and some refugees were arrested.
He explained that after two days, they were transferred to another building before the Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital early Monday morning.
Palestinian Abdel Fattah Al-Zuharna, who lives near the Al-Shifa hospital, said: “We saw people being killed before our eyes. The bodies were lying in the street, and Israeli bulldozers were removing them.”
He added, “The situation was catastrophic. There wasn’t even water.”
Another Palestinian youth who lived in the same house as Al-Zuharna said, “God is sufficient for me, and He is the best disposer of affairs. My brother was injured by an Israeli missile.”
He continued, “There was no water or food. There was death and destruction here. We were drinking contaminated water.”
