Al-Shifa Hospital
Al-Shifa Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى الشفاء Mustašfā š-Šifāʾ [musˈtaʃ.fa‿ʃ.ʃiˈfaːʔ]) was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City.
| Al-Shifa Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Gaza, Gaza Governorate, Palestinian territories |
| Coordinates | 31°31′27″N 34°26′39″E |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, obstetrics, gynecology |
| Type | Treatment |
| History | |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Closed | 2024 (destroyed as part of Israel-Hamas War) |
The hospital was first established by the government of Mandatory Palestine in 1946, and expanded during the Egyptian and later Israeli occupations. During the Israel-Hamas war, Israel, supported by the United States, said Hamas was using the hospital as a base for their operations and on 15 November 2023, its forces raided the hospital, where thousands of Palestinians were taking shelter. The Israeli raid was widely criticized, and Israel was accused by several news outlets of waging a propaganda war. Medical staff at al-Shifa have accused Israel of directly causing the deaths of civilians being treated at al-Shifa, including prematurely born babies. Israel found a tunnel underneath the hospital and reported they found some weapons inside. At the same time, multiple news agencies said that the evidence did not demonstrate the existence of a Hamas command center, but that it did demonstrate that Hamas used the hospital as cover.
A second Israeli raid on the hospital, during which there were extensive gunfights in and around the hospital complex, ended on 1 April 2024 after two weeks. The hospital was completely destroyed with hundreds of casualties around the hospital.