'Total destruction': Harrowing before and after photos reveal horrific ... trends now
New images have revealed the extent of the devastation the IDF wrought on the largest hospital complex in Gaza during a two-week raid that ended early this morning.
Hundreds of people returned to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and the surrounding area, after the withdrawal early on Monday, where they found bodies inside and outside the facility.
There was no immediate comment from the military, which has described the raid as one of the most successful operations of the bloodiest conflict between itself and Hamas in decades.
The IDF said it killed at least 200 Hamas and other militant fighters, including senior operatives, and that it seized weapons, valuable intelligence and cash during the raid on the hospital.
But Al-Shifa, which was one of less than a dozen of the 36 hospitals still working in Gaza following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, has been left in ruins.
Al-Shifa has been left in ruins
An overhead walkway that previously allowed staff and patients to go from one building to another without going outside was destroyed
The centre courtyard, once home to a small green area with a gazebo in the middle, has been reduced to little more than ash and dust
Gazan citizen Mohammed Mahdi, among the first to return, described a scene of 'total destruction'
Photos show the facades of buildings being completely blown off, with broken glass and concrete on the ground around them.
Scorch marks can be seen streaked up the sides of medical buildings, and the centre courtyard, once home to a small green area with a gazebo in the middle, has been reduced to little more than ash and dust.
An overhead walkway that previously allowed staff and patients to go from one building to another without going outside was destroyed. Structural metal rods that once held the building together have been left gnarled and twisted.
Gazan citizen Mohammed Mahdi, among the first to return, described a scene of 'total destruction'.
He said several buildings had been burned down. He counted six bodies in the area, including two in the hospital courtyard.
Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, said there were still patients, medical workers and displaced people sheltering inside the medical compound.
One Gazan said there were still patients, medical workers and displaced people sheltering inside the medical compound
Hundreds of people returned to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and the surrounding area, after the withdrawal early on Monday
The hospital has been the site of a major military operation conducted by the IDF
He said several patients had been taken to the nearby Al-Ahli Hospital, and that army bulldozers had ploughed over a makeshift cemetery inside the hospital compound.
'The situation is indescribable. The occupation destroyed all sense of life here,' he said.
The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said that, after heavy Israeli air strikes and tank fire, 'the scale of the destruction inside the complex and the buildings around it is very large'.
'Dozens of bodies, some of them decomposed, have been recovered from in and around the Al-Shifa medical complex,' the ministry said, adding that the hospital was now 'completely out of service'.
A doctor told AFP more than 20 bodies had been recovered, some crushed by withdrawing vehicles.
Less than a third of the Gaza Strip's 36 hospitals remain at least partially open, after Israel spent six months bombing vast swathes of the enclave.
Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes and has raided several medical facilities.
Palestinians found bodies inside and outside the facility
The IDF launched its raid two weeks ago, and left in the early hour of the morning
Israel has killed nearly 33,000 people, most of whom are civilians
Critics accuse the army of recklessly endangering civilians and of decimating a health sector already overwhelmed with wounded civilians.
Palestinians say Israeli troops forcibly evacuated homes near Al-Shifa Hospital in downtown Gaza City and forced hundreds of residents to march south.
At least 21 patients have died since the raid began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted late Sunday on X.
The top UN official said over a hundred patients were still inside the compound, including four children and 28 critical patients. He also said there were no diapers, urine bags or water to clean wounds, and that many patients suffered from infected wounds and dehydration.
The military had previously raided Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, in November, after saying Hamas maintained an elaborate command and control centre inside and beneath the compound.
It revealed a tunnel running beneath the hospital that led to a few rooms, and shared footage it claimed showed Hamas militants using the hospital as cover.
A man is seen standing next to medical equipment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
An inside view of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza
