Israel turns Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza into detention center

The Israeli forces stormed in large numbers the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City and turned it into military barracks and a detention center, where patients, displaced persons, and healthcare professionals are subjected to different forms of abuse, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement on Wednesday.

Euro-Med Monitor expressed fears of killings and executions as its team documented sporadic gunfire in the hospital since the early minutes of the raid, stressing that the al-Shifa Complex did not witness any gunfire other than from the Israeli forces.


The Geneva-based organisation highlighted that the Israeli army is the only party controlling the scene inside the al-Shifa Medical Complex, amid a total media blackout. No third party or international organisation was permitted to be present inside, which raises doubts about any Israeli narrative that would be released later.

Euro-Med Monitor further pointed out that the Israeli allegations about the use of the al-Shifa Medical Complex for military purposes do not require extended hours of searching and raiding. Therefore, there are concerns that the army might be creating the scene that might be released later.

The Israeli army has deliberately exaggerated over the past few days the goal of storming the al-Shifa Complex, portraying it as a military achievement, and inciting its soldiers against the medical facility.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on the Israeli army to withdraw from the al-Shifa Complex immediately, and fulfill its obligations under the law of armed conflicts, which requires parties to an armed conflict to ensure the protection of relief and health personnel and medical facilities, and not to restrict their work in any way.