The Israeli army withdrew from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on the first day of the ceasefire, according to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health, which is run by the radical Islamic group Hamas. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kudra announced this today. The Israeli army did not initially respond to a request from the AFP news agency.
The Israeli army spent about a week on the premises of Al-Shifa Hospital, which was suspected to be an operations center for the Palestinian radical Islamic organization Hamas. On Sunday, the army said it found a tunnel 55 meters long, ten meters deep beneath the clinic and a cache of weapons. Yesterday, Israeli forces arrested the head of Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiyah.
Since the start of the Israeli military operation, most of the approximately 2,300 patients, as well as displaced staff and civilians, have been evacuated from the hospital. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “extremely concerned” about the remaining 100 patients and staff at the hospital.