The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Monday that the Israeli army has withdrawn from the medical complex that includes the Shifa Hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, following days of conducting a large-scale military operation at the site. The ministry stated that dozens of bodies were recovered from within the medical complex and its surroundings. However, the Israeli army, which described its operation in the complex as "precise" and aimed at Hamas militants, did not immediately confirm any withdrawal.
Al-Aqsa TV reported that dozens of bodies were found in the Shifa medical complex and its vicinity in Gaza City after the Israeli forces withdrew. The channel noted that Israeli vehicles had pulled back from the area surrounding the complex towards the southwest of Gaza City. It added, citing security sources, that the vehicles fired heavily during their withdrawal.
The emergency committees warned citizens not to rush to check the status of Shifa Hospital for fear of ambushes and snipers in the area. The Palestinian television also reported that buildings within the Shifa medical complex in Gaza City were set on fire. It added that the complex was completely out of service and that significant destruction occurred in the complex and its surrounding buildings.
The Times of Israel reported today that the Israeli army announced the death of a non-commissioned officer in battles in southern Gaza yesterday, and that the number of military casualties has risen to 256 since the start of the ground operation in Gaza. The Israeli bombardment of Gaza continued on Sunday, with at least 77 people killed in Israeli airstrikes over a 24-hour period, according to the health ministry.
Fighting continues in the Palestinian territory, particularly around several hospitals that have become mostly out of service, where the Israeli army accuses Hamas fighters of hiding. In the Shifa medical complex in Gaza City (the largest health facility in the Palestinian territory), the army claimed to have killed around 200 "terrorists" since the start of its operation on March 18, and stated that it found many weapons. According to the World Health Organization, there are still 100 patients and 50 healthcare workers in Shifa.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization's director-general, noted in a post that 21 patients had died in Shifa Hospital in the northern sector since March 18. He added that the hospital, which was the largest in Gaza before the outbreak of war, has only one water bottle available for every 15 people.
Hamas also reported that Israeli forces are present in the Nasser Hospital complex in the southern Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Red Crescent stated that operations are ongoing at the Al-Amal Hospital, also located in the southern sector. The World Health Organization announced on Sunday that four people were killed and 17 others injured in an Israeli bombardment of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.
Tedros stated on X that "a World Health Organization team was on a humanitarian mission at the Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza when a camp inside the hospital complex was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday. Four people were killed and 17 others injured," clarifying that the organization's staff were safe.
