The images speak for themselves. Israeli soldiers withdrew from the al-Chifa hospital complex in Gaza on Monday after two weeks of operation. They leave behind immense destruction and numerous corpses, according to a doctor at the largest hospital in the Palestinian territory.
Buildings destroyed, charred or flattened, streets strewn with rubble and large mounds of sand: AFP images show a landscape of devastation around the al-Chifa hospital complex in Gaza. It was stormed on March 18 by the Israeli army, which accused Hamas of using it as a command center. The Palestinian organization strongly denied these allegations.
“There were only 300 patients and medical staff. Our forces took all necessary precautions not to harm any patients, staff or civilians in the hospital complex during the operation and evacuated them safely,” the Israeli army added.
300 dead in al-Chifa
A spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense Agency said 300 people died in and around the hospital during the Israeli operation. Medics and civilians at the compound said at least 20 bodies were found, some of which appeared to have been driven over by military vehicles.
Several bodies were found near the western entrance to the complex, used by the army at the time of its withdrawal on Monday, according to the same sources. An AFP correspondent saw a decomposed body with tire marks near the entrance, but was unable to say when it dated. “The tanks passed over bodies,” said a witness who preferred not to give his name.