Israeli troops leave Gaza Al-Shifa hospital laying in ruins

The Israeli military withdrew early Monday (Apr. 1st) from Gaza’s main hospital after a two-week raid, leaving behind a vast swath of destruction and several dead bodies.

Palestinians in the north of the enclave walked among the devastation with heavily damaged and charred buildings, mounds of dirt that had been churned up by bulldozers.

The military has described the raid on Shifa Hospital as one of the most successful of the nearly six-month war.

It comes at a time of mounting frustration in Israel, with tens of thousands protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and demanding he do more to bring home dozens of hostages held in Gaza. 

Last week, it said it had killed more than 170 people who they claimed to be militants and detained about 480 others.

Palestinians who fled the recent Israeli raid described mass arrests and forced marches past bodies.

On Friday (Mar. 22), the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described conditions as “utterly inhumane.”

The U.N. health agency said more than 20 patients died and dozens were put at risk during the raid, which brought even further destruction to a hospital that had already largely ceased to function.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that five wounded Palestinians who were trapped at Shifa Hospital died without food, water or medical services.

Hardly any aid has been delivered in recent weeks to northern Gaza and Gaza City, where Shifa is located.

A report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that said at least 31 people, including 27 children, have already died of malnutrition and dehydration.

The military had previously raided Shifa in November, after saying Hamas maintained an elaborate command and control center inside and beneath the compound.