Palestine: The World Health Organization (WHO) has called al-Shifa hospital in Gaza a “death zone” after visiting the complex. A joint United Nations team led by the WHO assessed the hospital for one hour following the Israeli occupation and evacuation.
The team stated that they saw evidence of shelling and gunfire and observed a mass grave at the hospital’s entrance with the remains of 80 people. After evacuation by the Israeli army, 300 critically ill patients remain in al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza.
The WHO commented that it was trying to arrange the urgent evacuation of remaining patients and staff to other facilities in Gaza and repeated calls for a ceasefire.
According to reports, 80 people were killed in recent twin strikes on a northern Gaza refugee camp, including a UN school sheltering displaced people.
Mr. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described “horrifying images” from the incident, while Egypt called the bombing a “war crime” and “a deliberate insult to the United Nations.”
On the same day, another building in Jabilia camp was also attacked, killing 32 people from the same family, 19 of them children.
According to UN reports, some 1.6 million people have been displaced inside the Gaza Strip by six weeks of fighting. Israel noted that its military was now “expanding its operational activities in additional neighborhoods in the area of the Gaza Strip”.
In recent days, al-Shifa hospital has been a key focus, with Israeli forces accusing Hamas of using it as a command center, a claim denied by the group and medical staff.
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