Amid Israeli Siege and Shoot-to-Kill Policy,

Bodies Buried in Mass Grave at Shifa Hospital

Date: 14 November 2023 - 21:58

News ID: ۱۲۱۴۸۸

GAZA CITY (Dispatches) – The director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest hospital, on Tuesday said that at least 179 people have been buried in a mass grave inside the hospital premises.
“We were forced to bury them in a mass grave,” said Muhammad Abu Salmiya, adding that seven babies and 29 patients from the intensive care patients are among those buried, Al Jazeera reported.
The hospital, in a statement, said that the bodies were buried after the hospital’s fuel supplies ran out and were in a state of decomposition.
Orthopaedic surgeon Fadel Naim, based in Gaza, said that the patients with injuries “up to the moderate level” have to undergo surgery without anesthesia because of a lack of medical supplies.
“It’s to preserve the remaining supply of anesthesia, which is on the verge of depletion at any moment, for major and critical surgeries,” he wrote on X.
Al Jazeera reported that the pain experienced by the patients during the surgical interventions without anesthesia is beyond what humanity can endure.
The Al-Shifa Hospital was cut off from the world for over 72 hours last week after a deadly blockade by Israeli forces that included tanks at the front gates.
According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the occupying regime of Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza since October 7, equivalent to two nuclear bombs.
Eyewitnesses at Shifa Hospital painted an apocalyptic scene at the besieged Palestinian territory’s largest medical facility, which is besieged by Israeli forces who are not allowing anyone to move in or out of its buildings.
Palestinians say Israeli tanks, warplanes and snipers encircling the hospital have adopted a “shoot to kill” policy, which does not discriminate between medics, wounded Palestinians and those seeking refuge within the hospital’s walls.
Mustafa Sarsour was one of the

last remaining journalists at Al-Shifa. He described doctors leaving the bodies on hospital grounds so that they would not decompose inside.

There is no power for refrigerators to store bodies and access to electricity is functionally non-existent.

He estimated there were 100 bodies, which have been left at the mercy of the elements and feral animals.

“Stray dogs and other animals bite at and eat the bodies,” he told Middle East Eye, adding that he and others at Al-Shifa were powerless to intervene.

“We watch them eat but no one can move because Israeli snipers and quadcopters shoot at anyone who walks out of the hospital’s buildings.”

He further described the horror of witnessing those inside the hospital seeing their relatives’ bodies desecrated.

In one case he recounts a woman watching the body of her brother being mauled by street dogs. “The scene was horrible as she was watching, unable to move or do anything.”

On October 9, the occupying regime of Israel imposed a full siege on Gaza and completely cut off its electricity, fuel supplies, water and food.

This means that power generators running hospitals, including Al-Shifa, have completely shut down.

In intensive care units, which rely on a continuous flow of electricity for incubators and other medical equipment to work, people are dying, including premature babies.

On Monday, Sarsour managed to get out of the hospital complex, joining a band of displaced people who were sheltering at Al-Shifa.

Even then, the reality of death was ever-present. Despite there ostensibly being a safe corridor through the hospital, Israeli snipers continued to shoot.

“While we were walking, many people were shot dead although they did not do anything. They were just walking,” Sarsour said, adding: “I recorded a lot of footage proving that they were shot while peacefully crossing the safe corridor.”

A number of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals feel they have no choice but to remain at the hospital and stay with their patients until the end.

However, the staff are limited in the treatment they can offer to those in need.

Doctors are currently unable to give their patients the procedures they require due to a lack of resources. Even coordinating treatment between different departments is impossible as walking over to another building is a life-and-death matter.

In some cases, doctors have been stuck inside the hospital since the start of Israel’s assault, and are reaching the end of their mental limits.

“[The hospital] is totally surrounded by snipers and tanks. Drones are targeting whoever tries to move between the buildings of the hospital and within the hospital area,” Dr Ahmed Mukhallalati, the chief of plastic surgery at al-Shifa, told MEE.

“We had many incidents where the wounded were in the adjoining block of the hospital, and they asked for help, and no one was able to reach the place,” he continued.

“One of the members of the Alami family got injured. Her sister is a doctor here, and she tried to call an ambulance.

“No one was able to arrange for an ambulance to get there. She died waiting for help in the other block of the hospital.”

The stresses of war are causing a higher rate of miscarriages and premature births among pregnant women in Gaza.

Mukhallalati stated that his hospital’s officials had tried to arrange the burial of bodies with the International Committee of the Red Cross but there had been no progress at the time of writing.

On Tuesday, Palestinian health ministry officials confirmed that they would bury the bodies at a mass grave on site as a consequence.

The doctor, like his colleagues at Al-Shifa, said Israel’s aim was to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system.

“This is the fifth day since the siege on Al-Shifa started. The day before yesterday, they attacked the water well and the water tank on top of the building,” he said.

“Currently, we have no water in our buildings. The hospital is without water. This would affect the basic hygiene for the patients and workers, as well as for displaced civilians in the hospital,” he continued.

“The hospital has not received drinking water and food for the past four days. We have no fresh food to eat and the food we do have is about to finish.”

Mukhallalati said the hospital was “no longer a suitable place” to treat patients and that it could not offer any benefits to its patients.

Hospitals and medical facilities have been caught in the crossfire during the Zionist regime’s war in Gaza - both literally and in the clashing narratives over the conflict.

Palestinian officials have said a staggering 22 hospitals and 49 medical centers have completely stopped working because of airstrikes and Israel’s decision to suspend all fuel and electricity supplies to the strip since October 9.

Heavy rainfall and flooding in the besieged Gaza Strip has compounded the misery of the displaced Palestinians.

In southern Gaza, where many displaced Palestinians are now living in temporary accommodation, the rain has seeped through their tents, soaking belongings and causing makeshift beds to become damp.

People are also struggling to stay warm in the cold conditions, with little to no source of heating due to the cutting of electricity and scarce levels of fuel.