Historica Wiki
Advertisement

The Siege of al-Shifa Hospital occurred in November 2023 when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) besieged Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital - accused of being a Hamas headquarters - during Operation Iron Swords.

Hamas has previously used the al-Shifa Hospital for the torture and murder of alleged Palestinian collaborators with Israel in the aftermath of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and, during the 2023 Israel-Hamas War, the Israeli military claimed that Hamas leaders were using the hospital as a safehouse and headquarters. As Israeli forces besieged Gaza in November 2023, Israeli airstrikes targeted seemingly innocuous targets such as an ambulance convoy and the hospital's solar panels, claiming that they were being abused by Hamas to supply armed militants in the hospital with weapons and energy. Captured Nukhba Force commandos revealed to the Israelis that Hamas used the hospital to store weapons and ammunition and to shield themselves from Israeli airstrikes, while also revealing a large underground complex beneath the hospital that was used to shelter Hamas leaders; US intelligence backed up these claims.

On 10 November 2023, Israeli forces besieged the al-Shifa Hospital and other medical centers accused of being Hamas strongholds. Pro-Palestinian sources called 10 November a "day of war on hospitals," as an Israeli airstrike on the al-Shifa Hospital killed 6 people. Human Rights Watch warned that thousands of patients and refugees sheltering at the hospital faced "grave risks" due to Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza, while commenting "hospitals must always be protected" and that "no area is a free-fire zone." On 11 November, the director of the hospital said that the medical complex had been completely cut off, with any moving person targeted by Israeli forces. People were shot at as they tried to exit the hospital, while Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila claimed that Israeli forces had shelled the hospital with banned white phosphorus munitions. On 12 November, the cardiac ward of the al-Shifa Hospital was destroyed and the intensive care unit severely damaged by IDF bombing, while the World Health Organization said that people who fled the hospital had been shot at, wounded, and even killed, and called for a humanitarian ceasefire to re-establish contact with the workers and patients inside the hospital.

Early on the morning of 15 November 2023, the IDF announced that it was launching a "precise and targeted operation" to take out Hamas' command center at the hospital and rescue any hostages imprisoned there. The IDF gave the hospital 30 minutes' warning before the operation began, and the medical staff were told to stay clear of the windows and the balconies. Israeli tanks were sighted in the hospital courtyard as troops searched the hospital's buildings, delivered incubators to care for prematurely-born children (many of whom had been taken off their incubators after they ran out of fuel), and began rounding up and questioning men between the ages of 16 and 40. IDF soldiers also interrogated medical teams, patients, and their escorts. Palestinian media called the Israeli raid on the hospital a "crime against humanity, medical staff, and patients," while Hamas blamed the United States for supporting Israel's "false narrative." Later that day, intense fighting was reported outside the city as explosions shook the buildings; rocket and artillery shells were launched in the vicinity of the hospital.

By 16 November, Israeli forces were still active in the al-Shifa Hospital as pressure grew to provide evidence of claims. 36 hours into the raid, IDF special forces conducted very specific, contained operations, seeking to find Hamas' tunnel network. Israel broadcast proof of Hamas' military use of the hospital, including firearms, body armor, and a laptop containing incriminating material, claiming that this proved that Hamas had established a command and control center in the basement. Pro-Palestinian sources claimed that Israel's inability to immediately locate any tunnels, as well as the underwhelming nature of the Hamas equipment found in what was supposed to be Hamas' "Pentagon", meant that Israel had lied about the hospital serving as Hamas' command center. Nevertheless, the discovery did invalidate Hamas' statement that the hospital was not being used for military purposes, and American president Joe Biden accused Hamas of a "war crime" for operating a command node under the hospital. While the White House remained convinced of the soundness of its intelligence that the hospital was used as a Hamas command center and storage facility, and that Hamas was using the patients and medical staff as human shields, it refused to provide details of its precise information.

Advertisement