MSF 'horrified' that Al-Shifa Hospital 'is in ruins'

By Al Mayadeen English
2 Apr 2024 12:54

Doctors Without Borders expresses its concern over the outcome of the 14-day-long Israeli occupation siege and massacre in Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

Picture showing the destruction of the MSF clinic near Al-Shifa Medical Complex on Monday, April 1, 2024. (X/@MSF)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that it is horrified that Al-Shifa Hospital "is in ruins after a 14-day-long operation by the Israeli occupation forces in and around the facility."

In a statement on X, it added that Gaza's largest hospital is "now out of service."

This leaves Palestinians in the north of Gaza with "fewer healthcare options," MSF emphasized, adding that "access to Al-Shifa hospital was impossible for days, leaving patients without care."

We're horrified that Al-Shifa Hospital is in ruins after a 14-day long operation by Israeli forces in and around the facility.

Gaza’s largest hospital is now out of service.

Given the extent of the destruction, people in the north are left with even fewer healthcare options. pic.twitter.com/0lJXxSgPAe
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) April 1, 2024

Doctors Without Borders then referenced the World Health Organization (WHO) as it revealed on March 31 that 21 Palestinian patients had been killed, 107 others trapped including four children, and 28 people in critical since the IOF began its siege on Al-Shifa Medical Complex on March 18.

Access to Al-Shifa hospital was impossible for days, leaving patients without care.

According to @WHO on 3/31: 21 patients have died since the hospital came under siege on 3/18 and 107 others remain trapped inside, including four children and 28 people in critical condition.
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) April 1, 2024

It further stressed that "hundreds of people have been killed including medical staff, and bodies are lying in the street, according to news reports," also mentioning the mass arrests of medical staff and other people."

As for the impact on MSF's clinic near the hospital, it quoted one of its staff members saying “I saw the huge damage...I was in shock. They damaged the office, clinic, all the cars, and the generators.”

MSF staff members visited Al-Shifa hospital in January and March. Though the hospital was only partially functioning and desperately lacking supplies, medical staff were still treating over 200 patients in March.
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) April 1, 2024

MSF concluded by calling for the safe evacuation of "the remaining patients so they can receive the care they need," further urging for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.

More than 700 Palestinians killed, detained in Al-Shifa

The Government Media Office in Gaza denounced on April 1 the occupation's crime in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, pointing out that "Israel" killed more than 400 Palestinian civilians in the hospital and its vicinity and detained around 300 people while almost 100 remain missing.

It also strongly condemned the crime committed by the occupation, which "falls under the act of genocide against the Palestinian people."

In a statement, the office emphasized that "[Biden's] administration, the international community, and the Israeli occupation bear full responsibility for the crimes committed." It stressed that the US and other world powers "have enabled the occupation to commit these crimes with impunity," highlighting that Washington "has obstructed UNSC resolutions aimed at halting the genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

The office continued that, upon withdrawing from the hospital and its surroundings, the occupation left behind "a trail of mass destruction" with crimes against humanity and international law unraveling.

“The occupation deliberately destroyed, burned, and demolished all buildings and departments without exception, in a clear crime that shames humanity,” it said in a statement, calling for the establishment of field hospitals to "save whatever is left of the [Gaza] healthcare system".

The Israeli occupation "tried to hide its heinous crime of executing hundreds of civilians," including those who were wounded and sick inside the Complex "by covering the bodies with piles of sand, bulldozing them, and burying them inside the health facility," the Media Office revealed.

Concluding its press release, the office urged all nations and international bodies, including the United Nations, to condemn this blatant violation of international law, humanitarian principles, the Geneva Conventions, and human rights agreements.