Uncovering Tragedy: The Devastation of Al-Shifa Medical Complex
Watan-The scenes documenting the extent of the destruction in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its surroundings following the Israeli occupation army’s implementation of a horrific two-week invasion accompanied by brutal war crimes.
The Ekad platform published an analysis of the humanitarian catastrophe that unfolded at the Al-Shifa Complex, amidst decomposed bodies and massive destruction, as documented by satellite images alongside scenes of atrocities captured by activists and media outlets.
In the early hours of Monday, April 1, news began to emerge of the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from inside the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its vicinity after two weeks of siege and assault on the medical compound.
Al Jazeera’s camera documented the initial moments of the occupation’s vehicles withdrawing from the complex area, leaving behind massive destruction.
On the same day, April 1, the Israeli army announced via its “X” platform account the withdrawal of army and Shin Bet forces from the Al-Shifa Medical Complex area.
#جيونيوز 🗺️| كارثة إنسانية تظهر في مجمع الشفاء.. جثث متحللة، ودمار هائل.. فما الذي كشفته صور الأقمار الصناعية؟ وما الذي وثقه الناشطون ووسائل الإعلام من فظائع؟ pic.twitter.com/JpQRgNCRCf
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) April 2, 2024
Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, stated that the occupation forces completely destroyed the buildings of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, rendering it unsuitable to be a medical center anymore.
This was also confirmed by the Israeli army radio, quoting a military source as saying that the Al-Shifa Complex would not return to operation as it suffered significant damage after being turned into a battlefield.
To assess the extent of the destruction in the complex and its surroundings, Ekad obtained satellite images captured by Sentinel Hub on March 15, before the military operation on the medical compound began, and compared them with recent images taken on March 30, two days before the end of the military operation.
The images showed massive destruction in the vicinity of the complex, as well as extensive damage within the Al-Shifa Complex itself.
Another video clip demonstrated the extent of the destruction in the complex and its surroundings by comparing satellite images taken on March 15 and 30.
The platform obtained clearer satellite images taken by Maxar of the Al-Shifa Complex area on April 1, published by open-source journalist Eric Toler in The New York Times, showing significant destruction compared to images from June 2022.
The recent images of the complex showed signs of excavation by occupation vehicles in the hospital’s courtyard and the burning of medical buildings.
Regarding ground documentation of the destruction in the complex, footage published by the Quds Feed network from inside and around the Al-Shifa Medical Complex showed the extent of the damage to buildings and the complex’s surroundings.
The occupation’s crimes didn’t stop at destroying buildings; they also extended to field executions, previously documented by the platform as occurring inside the Al-Shifa Complex during the siege.
Survivors of the Israeli occupation massacre in the Al-Shifa Hospital area recounted how soldiers carried out field executions, and even ran over civilians alive with vehicles.
Other footage showed the decomposed body of a child martyr after the occupation’s withdrawal, which the head of the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdo, described as a crime of execution against the child.
🔻مع ساعات الفجر الأولى من يوم الاثنين 1 أبريل 2024، بدأت تظهر أخبار عن انسحاب قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي كاملةً من داخل مجمع الشفاء الطبي ومحيطه، بعد أسبوعين من الحصار واقتحام المجمع الطبي.
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) April 2, 2024
A horror film
CNN journalist Khedr Al-Zaeem described the scene at the Al-Shifa Complex after the Israeli occupation’s withdrawal as resembling a horror film, something that couldn’t be real.
He added that bulldozers crushed people’s bodies everywhere around the hospital and in the hospital courtyard as well.
The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory pointed out that the actual scale and dimensions of the massacre have not been fully revealed yet, but initial estimates suggest that more than 1500 Palestinians, including martyrs, injured, and missing, half of them women and children, fell victim to the Israeli massacre at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its surroundings.
Severe destruction at the Al-Shifa Complex The Israeli occupation army withdrew from the Al-Shifa Medical Complex at dawn on Monday after a two-week siege and invasion.
The scenes following the withdrawal showed massive destruction, with hundreds of bodies found inside the complex and in the surrounding area.
The scenes documented the extent of the destruction suffered by the medical complex and its surroundings, as well as other scenes of charred martyr bodies on the streets and roads surrounding the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, with families searching for their relatives’ bodies in the Al-Shifa cemetery after it was excavated.
300 martyrs at the Al-Shifa Complex
Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, stated that there were about 300 martyrs at the Al-Shifa Complex and its surroundings after the occupation forces withdrew, and that the Israeli forces executed handcuffed citizens.
He added that the Israeli forces burned sections of the Al-Shifa Hospital and destroyed all the medical equipment and supplies inside it.
