Following a visit to the facility, the World Health Organisation (WHO) labelled the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City a “death zone”.
After the hospital was evacuated by the Israeli force and occupied for an hour, a combined UN team headed by the WHO evaluated the facility.
The team reported that they witnessed a mass grave near the hospital’s entrance as well as signs of gunfire and shelling.
They were informed that it contained 80 people’s remains.
After an evacuation that the Israeli army said was ordered by the hospital director but the director herself requested, 300 severely ill patients are still at al-Shifa, which used to be the biggest and most sophisticated hospital in Gaza.
The WHO reiterated its pleas for a ceasefire and stated that it was working to set up an immediate evacuation of the last patients and personnel to other institutions in Gaza.
In the meantime, the White House has responded to a Washington Post report claiming that Israel, Hamas, and the US were close to reaching an agreement that would see the release of women and children taken prisoner by Hamas on October 7 in return for a five-day cease-fire.
According to a White House spokesman, efforts are being made to achieve an agreement, but one has not yet been reached.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has stated that he will only consider a limited truce in exchange for the release of hostages who have been abducted by Hamas, ruling out a complete ceasefire.
READ ALSO: Israel confirms hostage death as a mass grave is being dug at a hospital in Gaza
On Saturday, hundreds of people—including some patients—left al-Shifa. Israel disputes the claims made by several medical staff members that they were told to leave.
Only “patients who could not move and a very small number of doctors” remained behind, a journalist at al-Shifa hospital told the BBC.
Journalist Khader, who had been in al-Shifa, told the BBC that “we raised our hands and carried white flags.”
“Last night was really challenging. It was unnerving to hear gunfire and explosions. Large holes were made in the hospital yard by the bulldozers, and some buildings were swept away.
A handful of premature newborns and 120 patients remained at the hospital, according to a statement made earlier by the health ministry operated by Hamas.
The IDF stated that it had complied with the hospital’s director’s request for individuals wishing to depart to via a “secure route” but denied having given the order to evacuate al-Shifa.
“At no point did the IDF order the evacuation of patients or medical teams and in fact proposed that any request for medical evacuation will be facilitated by the IDF,” said a statement.
The hospital’s state was deemed “miserable” by Dr. Ramez Radwan, a medical professional who said he was told to leave al-Shifa by Israeli officials. He mentioned that no medicines or antibiotics were available, and some patients had “worms coming out of the wounds.”
In the last few days, the Israeli military has attacked the hospital in what it calls a “targeted operation against Hamas.” However, there is still no concrete proof that Hamas carried out a significant operation in tunnels beneath the medical facility.
