Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza turned into ‘House of Death’: Norwegian doctor

A Norwegian doctor, working at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza for 16 years, said that the hospital has been into a "House of Death by Israel and the US."

"Today, we witness the total Israeli destruction of the most important, 700 beds specialty hospital in Gaza, Al Shifa Medical Complex," said Mads Gilbert in his account on X.


Emphasizing that the hospital was established during the British mandate, he added: "The name Shifa meaning 'The House of Healing'; now turned into a 'House of Death' by Israel and the US, burnt, totally destroyed to rubble and turned into a graveyard of patients, medical staff, relatives and refugees."


Gilbert emphasized that this marks a "symbol of heartless, cynical Israeli politics of colonial occupation with the goal of elimination of the Palestinian people, their social institutions and their lives."


"US, EU, UK governments stand shamed, complicit by their support for Israeli war crimes and atrocities against all humanity," he added.

Earlier in the day, Israel announced that it has withdrawn from Gaza Strip's largest health complex, Al-Shifa Hospital, and its surroundings after its two-week long raids there which had begun on March 18.

During the 14-day attacks, the Israeli army killed more than 200 Palestinians and detained over 900 Palestinians in and around the hospital.

The hospital was previously raided Nov. 16 after it was besieged for one week when its courtyards, parts of its buildings, medical equipment and the power generator were destroyed.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

Nearly 32,800 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,300 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which on Thursday asked Israel to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.