Israel’s Al-Shifa Hospital Massacre: One Of The Worst Atrocities Committed Since 1948

On April 1, Israeli invading forces departed from the area of Gaza City surrounding the Shifa Hospital complex, after having besieged it for two weeks. Despite Israeli claims that not a single civilian was killed, what was discovered by journalists who entered the site was a mass graveyard for civilians and Hospital patients alike.

Two weeks ago, the Israeli military suddenly announced that it was conducting a military operation inside al-Shifa Hospital. Tanks, drones, armored personnel carriers, and a large ground force stormed the hospital ground as well as the surrounding areas, placing the largest hospital complex in Gaza under a siege. This action came shortly after Al-Jazeera Arabic broadcasted exclusive footage, shared to it by Hamas, which detailed a complex sniper operation that resulted in the assassination of a high ranking Israeli officer; responsible for the first invasion of al-Shifa Hospital back in November.

In November, the Israeli military had built a considerable propaganda campaign in which it used a variety of means to claim that Hamas headquarters existed at al-Shifa Hospital. The US government backed the Israelis up on this claim, but fell short of claiming that a headquarters for the Palestinian group existed, instead stating that a “command node” was located there. This provided cover for Israel to repeatedly bomb the hospital, murdering civilians who were seeking refuge inside the complex, before placing the site under a siege for a number of days. Israeli forces invaded the hospital, bringing foreign journalists with them to inspect what they claimed beforehand to be a complex network of “terror tunnels” and possibly a site where Israeli prisoners were being kept. They also rounded up thousands of civilians at the site and placed them under military detention, while also murdering tens of civilians while entering the compound.

The @Wikipedia page for #AlShifaHospital has now been edited to remove the fact that tunnels were built under the hospital in 1983, by Israel. (Discussed in more detail this show: https://t.co/vIRE8N68wn) https://t.co/eWbYVYImr4 pic.twitter.com/SZK78QDTj7

— The Last American Vagabond (@TLAVagabond) November 22, 2023

Israel official, Naftali Bennett, discusses teaching teams how to edit Wikipedia to control the conversation. pic.twitter.com/fnm00SPg5R

— The Last American Vagabond (@TLAVagabond) November 26, 2023

Later, when the international media began to examine the claims of the Israeli military, which included the release of videos — clearly doctored a number of times — that allegedly showed weapons stored there, the conclusion was unanimously reached that the Israeli/US claims about the hospital being used as a headquarters/command-node was lacking of proof. Yet, Israel then proceeded to raid the Shifa Hospital compound a further two times, killing civilians as they did so. While in January, the US released another enabling comment from an unanimous source, claiming that they then seemed to have come to the conclusion that Hamas did use the hospital at some point as a base, but abandoned it. Washington never provided any evidence for this assertion.

When the Israeli military began its latest siege of the hospital, around two weeks ago, it also decided to carry out assassinations of senior Palestinian figures in local police forces & local people’s committees. During the first day of its assault on al-Shifa Hospital, Israeli special forces assassinated Fayeq al-Mabhouh, a senior police officer and employee on Gaza’s interior ministry, who was responsible for the coordination, security, and distribution of humanitarian aid in northern Gaza. Israel attempted to pass him off as a senior Hamas commander, a claim which was quickly debunked and an allegation I investigated myself. After having conversed with several people in Gaza, ranging from his family members, police officers, and personal friends, it became clear that he had no known involvement in any armed activity in Gaza and had once participated in military action as a younger man, for which he was imprisoned by the Israelis for over a decade. He also had plans to retire in Turkey and was widely respected for his role over 15 years in civil service.

Throughout the siege of the Shifa Hospital, various stories of massacres, torture, sexual humiliation emerged with video evidence, and extensive testimony existing to back up these claims. The Israeli military allegedly kidnapped anywhere between 500 to 700 Palestinians from the site. A human rights group called Euro-Med Monitor also released a report, citing evidence that Palestinian civilians were used as human shields by the Israeli army, in order to prevent Palestinian fighters from shooting towards them. Various claims that Israeli soldiers committed rape were also spread, including a gruesome story of a pregnant women being raped violently in front of her family members, yet these claims were not proven and we have yet to receive any confirmation on the various incidents alleged at the time.

Ultimately, upon the Israeli military withdrawing on Monday, family members of those who were trapped, along with local journalists, entered the site. The Gaza Health Ministry recorded that over 400 Palestinians were murdered in and around the compound, as every building in the hospital complex was destroyed. I spoke to local journalist, Motassem A Dalloul, who was among the first to enter the site, he detailed the scenes of mass graves inside the complex, witnessing “hands”, “parts of heads”, and other body parts scattered inside the hospitals grounds. Outside of the hospital he noted that bodies were left everywhere, decomposing and surrounded by pools of blood. He also noted that inside every building inside the hospital complex, he saw dead bodies and stated that the direct testimonies he collected included accounts of Israeli soldiers executing a doctor, along with civilians who had been bound at their hands and feet.

Israeli officials, along with the military spokesperson for Israel’s army, bragged about killing “hundreds of terrorists” and claimed that not a single civilian had been killed. However, the evidence apparent from the dozens of appalling videos from the hospital and its surroundings, in addition to the eyewitness/victim testimonies, corroborates the Gaza Health Ministry’s account:  that this was an appalling civilian massacre. No evidence has been produced showing Palestinian fighters belonging to Hamas or any other faction using the hospital as a stronghold. Israel again released videos of random firearms as its “proof” that it had discovered the site was being used as a “terror base”.

In the recorded history of the conflict, this attack on al-Shifa Hospital constitutes the single worst death toll of any ground massacre inflicted at a single location by the Israeli military directly. While airstrikes have previously inflicted similar massacres, the gratuitous up close and personal violence is reminiscent of the early days of the ISIS insurgency in Iraq.

At this point, the Israeli allegations shouldn’t even be taken seriously, as their claim is that “not one” civilian was killed. Yet, for those who happen to fall for the poorly strung together Israeli propaganda, in which pictures of a few AK-47’s is somehow proof that Hamas was magically using the Shifa Hospital as a base for a fourth time, it begs the following question: Why has there been not a single video, photo or eyewitness account of this during the four separate attacks launched on the hospital? Also, why would Hamas “go back” to the hospital four times to use it as a cover for its operations, when they know Israel has no problem bombing and besieging it? In addition to this, why would it take two whole weeks for the Israeli army to dismantle the alleged fighter presence there, after we saw videos showing that every building in the complex had been fully occupied by them within the first 24 hours?

Israel’s propaganda is so ridiculous that it calls into question the very intelligence of the Western Corporate media, in their attempts to legitimize the blatantly false claims that they continue to make. This was a massacre of historic proportions, in terms of its pure savagery.