Israeli special forces backed up by other troops stormed Al-Shifa Hospital overnight Nov. 14-15. Youssef Abu Rish, an official from the Health Ministry in Gaza, speaking from inside the hospital, described to AFP the scene. He saw tanks inside the complex and “dozens of soldiers and commandos inside the emergency and reception buildings.” Staff could not move from one place to another. Internet service went dark. Abu Rish called on “the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately and urgently to stop the Israeli storming operation.” He said that among the thousands inside the hospital were “650 ailing people and thousands of injured people.” A journalist inside the hospital, who is collaborating with AFP, said Israeli soldiers were interrogating people on Wednesday morning, among them patients and doctors.
Citing the Palestinian Health Ministry, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 40 patients had died in Al-Shifa on Tuesday, Nov. 14, while hospital director Abu Salmiya said 179 bodies had been interred in a mass grave in the yard inside the complex.
Some of the many reports, as they came out:
• Staff inside Al-Shifa Hospital have told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli army bombed a medicine storeroom, and destroyed medical tools.
• Israeli forces are firing live ammunition inside the Al-Shifa Hospital, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. Jihad Abu Shanab, a journalist inside the hospital, said that “explosions can be heard clearly,” and that tanks are now outside the hospital.
