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Al-Shifa Hospital

Coordinates: 31°31′27″N 34°26′39″E / 31.52417°N 34.44417°E / 31.52417; 34.44417
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nogburt (talk | contribs) at 14:07, 12 November 2023 (Tried to address some of the pro-Hamas pov issues and flagged article for it.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Al-Shifa Hospital
Map
Geography
LocationGaza, Gaza Governorate, Palestinian territories
Coordinates31°31′27″N 34°26′39″E / 31.52417°N 34.44417°E / 31.52417; 34.44417
Organisation
Care systemInternal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, obstetrics, gynecology
TypeTreatment
History
Opened1920s

Al-Shifa Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى الشفاء Mustašfah al-Šifāʔ), properly known as Dar Al-Shifa Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى دار الشفاء Mustašfat Dār al-Šifāʔ), is the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighbourhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City in the Gaza Governorate.[1] The current hospital director is Muhammad Abu Salmiya.[2]

Originally a British Army barracks, the site was transformed into a healthcare facility, the Dar Al-Shifa or "house of healing", by the government of Mandatory Palestine in 1946. The hospital was expanded during the Egyptian administration of Gaza, and again under Israeli administration during the 1980s. In the 21st-century, the hospital has increasingly been caught up in conflicts. During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, much of the media coverage came from correspondents reporting from the hospital.

In 2014, Amnesty International accused Hamas of using the hospital for torturing and murdering alleged Palestinian collaborators.[3] A former Israeli official also said Hamas leaders were hiding in the hospital.[4][5] Erik Fosse and Mads Gilbert, who were working at the hospital, stated that they did not see any evidence of military activity at the hospital during the war.[6][7] Professor Sara Roy stated that military use of the hospital was "highly improbable".[7] During the 2023 conflict, Israeli intelligence stated that imprisoned Hamas militants had admitted, under interrogation, that Hamas was using the hospital militarily.[8] These claims were denied by hospital administrators and Hamas.[9]

1948–1967

Dar Al-Shifa, which means "house of healing" in Arabic, was originally a British Army barracks, but was transformed into a center to provide treatment for quarantine and febrile diseases by the government of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1946. Prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, al-Shifa was one of two hospitals in Gaza, the other being al-Ahli Arab Hospital. When the Egyptians administered the Gaza Strip after the war, the quarantine and febrile diseases department was relocated to another area in the city, and al-Shifa developed into the central hospital of Gaza. Initially, a department for internal medicine was established, followed by a new wing for surgery, and subsequently new buildings for pediatrics and ophthalmology were added to the hospital.[10] In 2013, a special surgical building was opened.[11]

After a brief occupation by Israel during the 1956 Suez Crisis, the returning Egyptian administration, under directives by president Gamal Abdel Nasser, paid more attention to the health and social situation of Gaza, and al-Shifa was expanded to include departments for obstetrics and gynecology. They established a new health administration for the Gaza region, later building several clinics throughout the city that were attended by doctors from the hospital.[12] The largest department in al-Shifa was internal medicine (100 beds), then pediatrics (70 beds), surgery (50 beds), ophthalmology (20 beds) and gynecology (10 beds).[13]

1967–2005: Israeli occupation

When Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, the entire Egyptian administration and staff in the hospital were taken prisoner.[14] By 1969, the department of internal medicine grew to contain several sub-departments.[15]

Architecture and Expansion

The hospital underwent a major Israeli renovation and expansion.[16][17] The project was designed by Israeli architects Gershon Tzapor and Benjamin Edelson in their Tel-Aviv office, both well experienced in the construction of high standard hospitals.[16] The project was done in the 1980s as part of a project to improve the living conditions of Gaza residents.[18] This project came as part of the Israeli idea of mutual existence between Jews and Arabs. The project intended to house 900 beds in the entire campus, a 50 dunam area. The Israeli additions were considered to be in the same standard as those hospital wings in Israeli hospitals such as Tel HaShomer.[16] The architecture of the hospital came to reflect the modernist and post modernist trends in Israeli architecture.[16] In particular was the similarity of the project to existing Israeli hospitals such as the facades of the Bezalel building in Jerusalem.[17] Similarly to other Israeli projects, the building was built with sharpened diagonal staircases, akin to projects by Israeli architects Dan Eitan, Shlomit Nadler and others at the time.[17] The architects designed and built a large array of underground infrastructure, which the IDF later pointed to as part of the underground Hamas command in 2014 and in the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[16][9][8][17]

2005–present: Palestinian control

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza.

Firing of doctors not affiliated with Hamas

During the Fatah–Hamas conflict, Fatah and Hamas clashed at the hospital, killing one member of each organization.[19] Some injured people brought to the hospital were killed by Hamas militants once inside. A doctor in the hospital reported, “The medical staff are suffering from fear and terror, particularly of the Hamas fighters, who are in every corner of the hospital.”[20] Hamas fired about 600 doctors affiliated with Fatah, threatening to shoot them if they returned to the hospital.[21]

The two Norwegian medical doctors, Erik Fosse and Mads Gilbert, have done humanitarian work at the hospital.[22]

2008–2009 war

During the Gaza War (2008–2009), Al-Shifa hospital overflowed with Palestinians injured by Israeli airstrikes. Already before the war, the blockade of Gaza had caused a shortage of ventilation systems, patient-handling systems such as operating tables, beds, trolleys, and various types of medical equipment.[23] These shortages affected clinical work.[23]

In the first 13 days of the war, about 360 surgical operations were performed.[23] Among the people brought to the hospital, about 340 were pronounced dead on arrival. The number of injuries treated during this period was 1039,[23] but this is regarded as an underestimate, since it doesn't include many patients with minor injuries.[23]

Much of the media coverage of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict was broadcast or written by correspondents reporting from the hospital.[24]

During the 2008–2009 Gaza War, The New York Times reported that "armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roved the halls" killing alleged collaborators.[25] Several reports by Israeli Shin Bet officials alleged that Hamas used Al-Shifa hospital as a bunker and refuge, knowing it would be spared by air strikes.[18] The Israeli allegations were difficult to confirm because Israel had banned reporters from Gaza at the time.[26] PBS' Wide Angle programme, which interviewed a doctor from Gaza who preferred to remain anonymous, said that he believed that Hamas officials are present under the hospital.[26] In 2009, the Palestinian Health Ministry, run by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, accused Hamas members of taking control of wards in Shifa Hospital, using them for interrogation and imprisonment, while withholding medical care. The ministry also called on Hamas to stop stealing and redirecting the medical resources to the organization's warehouses and centers (outside of the hospital).[27]

2014 war

Israeli operations during 2014 Gaza War killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and injured over 11,000. During the war, a total of 8,592 patients visited Al-Shifa hospital, and most were civilians.[28] Of these, 490 (5.7%) were dead on arrival. After a detailed triage, 1808 patients were admitted, of whom 78 (4.3%) died in the hospital. 842 major life-saving surgeries were performed, including 90 laparotomies, 146 orthopaedic fixations, 106 craniotomies, 69 thoracotomies/airway interventions, 38 vascular procedures, 49 amputations, 68 debridements, and 176 other procedures.[28]

Compared to the 2012 war, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission rates doubled and ICU mortality rates tripled.[28] The authors speculate that might be due to the "extreme character" of the attacks in 2014.[28]

American journalist Max Blumenthal was in Gaza during the 2014 war. Blumenthal wrote that doctors were burnt out after weeks of amputations and shrapnel extractions, with some "on the brink of insanity". One of the hospital directors screamed "Can’t the world see that we’re human?".[29] Blumenthal reported that many refugees had setup tents beside the hospital during the war.[30]

Former Israeli Navy commander Eli Marom said Hamas leaders were hiding in basement of Al-Shifa hospital.[31] Washington Post London bureau chief William Booth wrote for The Washington Post that the hospital had become a "de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices."[32] Orde Kittrie described Shifa hospital as Hamas’ headquarters.[33] Hamas officials were also described as disguising themselves in medical attire within the hospital.[34] Amnesty International documented how the Hamas forces used the abandoned areas of the hospital to abduct, torture, and kill Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.[35][36] Wall Street Journal correspondent Nick Casey tweeted a photo of Hamas MP and media spokesperson Mushir Al Masri conducting media interviews right outside of the Shifa hospital, but later deleted it.[37][38] The Guardian journalists saw Hamas officials at the hospital.[9] Reporting from the Gaza hospital to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Aishi Zidan reported that a rocket was fired from the area of the hospital. This was seized upon by the Israeli press, prompting the journalist to take to Facebook to note that her words had been taken out of context and used as propaganda, and that the rocket had actually been fired from "somewhere behind the hospital".[39]

Norman Finkelstein states that the official Israeli report of the war did not accuse Hamas of doing anything at the hospital more serious than "security service interrogations" and criticized the Amnesty report, claiming it omitted evidence to the contrary.[40][41][42] Professor Sarah Roy concluded that "it was highly improbable that Hamas made military use of the hospital building".[42] Dr. Erik Fosse, who worked at the hospital at the time, found no evidence that it was a Hamas base.[42] Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who also worked at the hospital during the war, rejected that the hospital was used a base by Hamas officials or militants.[6]

2023 war

Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment at the overcrowded emergency ward of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on 11 October 2023

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, hospital administrators at al-Shifa said the hospital was overwhelmed with wounded and dying people, operating well over its 500 bed capacity, and was running short on fuel, beds, and medical supplies.[43] The hospital is also housing thousands of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter from airstrikes during the war.[44]

On 3 November, amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance convoy, resulting in dozens of wounded and several deaths. According to Israel, the ambulances were being used to transport Hamas fighters and weapons, a charge Hamas denied.[45] According to Gaza officials, the ambulances were transporting critical injured patients from the hospital to the Rafah crossing with Egypt.[46] The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the strike killed 15 people. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "horrified by the reported attack in Gaza on an ambulance convoy outside Al-Shifa hospital" while World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "utterly shocked".[47]

On 6 November, Israeli forces struck and destroyed the solar panels atop of Al-Shifa Hospital, leaving the facility totally reliant on back-up generators powered by rapidly dwindling fuel supplies.[48] With almost no fuel left in its tanks to keep its one generator operating, it's only a matter of time until the hospital is forced to turn off essential equipment like ventilators and dialysis machines, leaving patients to die.[a] Since the beginning of the war, the hospital's primary water supplies in northern Gaza—a desalination plant and an Israeli pipeline—have been cut off. The hospital currently only receives saline groundwater, which is unfit for hygiene and drinking.[49]

Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the IDF said that they had captured and interrogated two Nukhba Force members. According to the IDF, Hamas has been using medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, especially Al-Shifa hospital, to shield themselves from Israeli strikes and to store weapons and ammunition.[50] The Israeli internal security service Shin Bet also released a video they said was an interrogation of a Nukhba Force member in which a handcuffed man said there is an extensive underground complex operated by Hamas beneath the hospital.[9] The IDF Spokesperson's Unit has accused Hamas of using the hospital as cover, citing videos and intelligence.[51][52] Hamas rejected the accusation wholesale, saying that Israel was attempting to justify an attack on the hospital and saying the Israeli accusations "no basis in truth" and that Israel had fabricated evidence.[53][54][55][56] Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a resident doctor called the assertion of Hamas using the hospital an "outlandish excuse" and said that it was impossible to evacuate critically injured patients.[57]

Notes

  1. ^ 16 of the 35 hospitals In the Gaza have ceased operations due to a lack of electricity.

References

  1. ^ Al-Shifa Hospital and Israel's Gaza Siege Archived 21 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Defence for Children International Palestine Section. 16 July 2006.
  2. ^ "Press Release by the Ministry of Health – Gaza". وزارة الصحة الفلسطينية (in Arabic). 24 May 2022. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Gaza: Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict". Amnesty International. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  4. ^ McCoy, Terrence (31 July 2014). "Why Hamas stores its weapons inside hospitals, mosques and schools". The Washington Post. He also reported that Shifa Hospital in Gaza City had "become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices."
  5. ^ {{Cite news |date=11 July 2014 |title=Hamas leaders again ‘hiding under hospital’ |work=Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-leaders-again-hiding-under-hospital/}Whether Hamas has militarily used the hospital is disputed by Hamas.
  6. ^ a b Harriet Sherwood (23 June 2015). "Doctor Mads Gilbert on working under siege in Gaza's Shifa hospital: 'My camera is my Kalashnikov'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2023. I have never seen any activities in the Shifa that would violate the Geneva conventions. But I didn't explore every corner of the large hospital compound. If I saw anything inside the Shifa that in my opinion violated the Geneva conventions and, should I say, the 'holiness' of a hospital, I would have left
  7. ^ a b Norman Finkelstein. Gaza:An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom. University of California Press. p. 248-249.
  8. ^ a b https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamass-main-operations-base-is-under-shifa-hospital-in-gaza-city-says-idf/
  9. ^ a b c d Beaumont, Peter (30 October 2023). "What is a human shield and how has Hamas been accused of using them?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  10. ^ Husseini and Barnea, 2002, p.135.
  11. ^ وضع اللمسات النهائية على مبنى الجراحات التخصصية في غزة Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine [Putting the final touches on the Special Surgical Building in Gaza]
  12. ^ Husseini and Barnea, 2002, p.136.
  13. ^ Husseini and Barnea, 2002, p.137.
  14. ^ Husseini and Barnea, 2002, p.139.
  15. ^ Husseini and Barnea, 2002, p.141.
  16. ^ a b c d e אלחייני, צבי (7 November 2023). "הצצה לבי"ח שיפא בעזה שבנו אדריכלים ישראלים". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d "הצצה נדירה: כך תיכננו ובנו אדריכלים ישראלים את בית החולים שיפא בעזה". xnet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  18. ^ a b Harel, Amos (1 December 2009). "Hamas leaders hiding in basement of Israel-built hospital in Gaza". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009.
  19. ^ "Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes | Human Rights Watch". 12 June 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  20. ^ Sarig, Merav (30 June 2007). "Human rights groups plead for protection for hospital patients in Gaza". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 334 (7608): 1342.2–1342. doi:10.1136/bmj.39258.592975.DB. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1906608. PMID 17599998.
  21. ^ Sarig, Merav (3 November 2007). "Striking medics in Gaza temporarily return to work after talks with Hamas". BMJ : British Medical Journal. 335 (7626): 904–905. doi:10.1136/bmj.39384.458935.DB. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 2048866. PMID 17974666. I was fired only because I support Fatah," Dr Alsaqqa says. In the past few months he has, he says, been arrested and beaten by Hamas three times.
    "After I was dismissed they threatened to kill me, to shoot me, if I entered the hospital again." According to Dr Alsaqqa, about 600 doctors were "fired or pushed out of their jobs."
  22. ^ Sarig, Merav (30 June 2007). "Human rights groups plead for protection for hospital patients in Gaza". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 334 (7608): 1342.2–1342. doi:10.1136/bmj.39258.592975.DB. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1906608. PMID 17599998.
  23. ^ a b c d e Erik Fosse, Mads Gilbert (17 January 2009). "Inside Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital". The Lancet.
  24. ^ Richman, Rick. Omissions of the Times; the paper of record's reportage from Gaza was most notable for what wasn't covered. March 2009
  25. ^ El-Khodary, Taghreed; Bronner, Ethan (29 December 2008). "In the midst of war's horror, a terrible vengeance". New York Times.
  26. ^ a b feeney, lauren (13 January 2009). "Gaza E.R. ~ Hamas Hiding in Shifa Hospital? | Wide Angle | PBS". Wide Angle. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  27. ^ Roee Nahmias (2 July 2009). "PA: Hamas converts hospitals into jails". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  28. ^ a b c d Mads Gilbert, Sobhi Skaik (2017). "Patient flow, triage, and mortality in Al-Shifa hospital during the Israeli operation Protective Edge, 2014, in the Gaza Strip: a review of hospital record data" (PDF). 390. The Lancet. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. ^ Blumenthal (2015), p 151
  30. ^ Blumenthal (2015), p 152
  31. ^ https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-leaders-again-hiding-under-hospital/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ^ "While Israel held its fire, the militant group Hamas did not". Washington Post. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  33. ^ Kittrie, Orde F. (2016). Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-026357-7.
  34. ^ Friedmann, Daniel (17 June 2016). The Purse and the Sword: The Trials of Israel's Legal Revolution. Oxford University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-19-027851-9. Hamas even located its command headquarters in Gaza's Shifa hospital, disguising its commanders as medical personnel.
  35. ^ "Gaza: Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict". Amnesty International. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Palestine (State of): 'Strangling Necks' Abductions, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict". Amnesty International. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Gaza reporters' tweets: Hamas using human shields". Jerusalem Post. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  38. ^ Joshua Levitt (24 July 2014). "Hamas Spokesman: A truce means preparing for the next battle". Algemeiner. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  39. ^ "VIDEO: Finnish reporter sees rockets fired from Gaza hospital". Ynetnews. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  40. ^ https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/32328
  41. ^ جدلية, Jadaliyya-. "Has Amnesty International Lost Its Way? A Forensic Analysis of Amnesty's Reports on Operation Protective Edge (Part 2)". Jadaliyya – جدلية. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  42. ^ a b c Norman Finkelstein. Gaza:An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom. University of California Press. p. 248-249.
  43. ^ Elouf, Samar Abu; Yazbek, Hiba (12 October 2023). "This Hospital in Gaza Is Running Short on Fuel and Beds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  44. ^ "Palestinians take refuge at Shifa Hospital amid Israeli bombing". Al Jazeera. 21 October 2023.
  45. ^ Flower, Tara John, Kevin (3 November 2023). "Israel admits airstrike on ambulance near hospital that witnesses say killed and wounded dozens". CNN. Retrieved 4 November 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ "Several killed in Israeli attack on ambulance convoy: Gaza health ministry". Al Jazeera.
  47. ^ "Deadly Israel strike on Gaza ambulance convoy sparks condemnation". France 24. 3 November 2023.
  48. ^ "Israeli forces target solar panels at Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital". Al Jazeera. 6 November 2023.
  49. ^ Mallinder, Lorraine (8 November 2023). "Why is Gaza's al-Shifa hospital at the heart of Israel's war?". Al Jazeera.
  50. ^ Zitun, Yoav (28 October 2023). "Detained terrorists admit Hamas using hospitals to shield themselves". Ynetnews. Ynet News. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  51. ^ "דובר צה"ל חושף: כך חמאס משתמש בביה"ח שיפאא | ישראל היום". Israel Hayom. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  52. ^ "IDF shares proof of Hamas terror base built under main Gaza hospital". The Jerusalem Post. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  53. ^ Yee, Vivian (28 October 2023). "Israel Says Al Shifa Hospital Conceals Hamas Underground Command Centers". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  54. ^ "Hamas rejects Israeli claim over installations under al-Shifa hospital". Al Jazeera. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  55. ^ "رداً على ادعاءات إسرائيل.. حماس تنفي استخدام مستشفى الشفاء لأغراض عسكرية". TRT (in Arabic). 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  56. ^ "Hamas rejects Israeli claim over installations under al-Shifa hospital". Al Jazeera. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  57. ^ "Israel accuses Hamas of launching attacks from inside Gaza hospitals – and signals it could target medical facilities". Sky News.

Bibliography

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