Largest hospital in Gaza now an 'empty shell' filled with corpses

(Patria) - The largest hospital in Gaza is now an "empty shell" filled with corpses, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced last night.

Israeli forces withdrew on Monday from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after a two-week operation during which they fought Palestinian militants inside the largest medical complex in the Palestinian territory.

A WHO-led mission managed to access the hospital on Friday, the UN agency said.

.@WHO and partners managed to reach Al-Shifa — once the backbone of the health system in #Gaza, which is now an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege. The team witnessed at least five dead bodies during the mission.

Most of the buildings in the hospital complex… pic.twitter.com/jSKVfZkR5f

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 6, 2024

"Al-Shifa, once the backbone of Gaza's health system, is now an 'empty shell' filled with graves," wrote WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on platform X.

WHO said there are no longer any patients in the hospital, where "numerous shallow graves" have been dug in front of the emergency department and other buildings of the complex.

"In that area, many bodies are partially buried with visible extremities," WHO stated, adding that the hospital is completely unusable.

According to WHO data, only 10 of the 36 main hospitals in Gaza are still partially functional.