Fifteen bodies were recovered Monday from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews reported. Health workers and residents in northern Gaza have been searching for what they believe are mass graves and looking for their loved ones after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from areas around the hospital complex since the siege ended April 1, a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson confirmed. Video footage filmed on Monday shows medical workers, some wearing UN-marked vests, walking around the site over mounds of sand, digging up bodies. White body bags can be seen on the side of the excavation site, some marked with text that read “unidentified body” and some with names of people on them.
Mohammad Al-Khateeb, a resident of Gaza, mourned the loss of his mother, Khawala Al-Khateeb, who was 75 years old when she was brought to the hospital three days before the Israeli military siege and was killed three days after. Al-Khateeb expressed anger at the Israeli military for depriving patients, nurses, doctors, and the displaced of water, medicine, and food during the siege.
Waleed Abu-Laila shared his heartbreaking experience of searching for his mother since the Israeli siege on the hospital ended on April 1. On Monday, he found her body and was only able to identify her from specific markings on her feet and hands from a previous amputation. Video footage captured Abu-Laila opening a white body bag, revealing his mother’s decomposed body.
Residents described the hospital as being blocked from all sides, with bodies scattered on the streets from tank rails. The situation has left families devastated as they search for their loved ones amidst the aftermath of the siege. source has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.
