The Al-Shifa complex, which Israel raided today, Wednesday, is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. Both Israel and the United States allege that Hamas fighters use Gaza's hospitals, including Al-Shifa, to hide command centers and hostages through tunnels. Hamas, which has controlled the coastal enclave since 2007, has dug tunnels extending under Gaza for hundreds of kilometers, with some parts reaching a depth of 80 meters. Hamas, health authorities, and hospital officials deny that the Palestinian group is hiding military infrastructure inside or beneath the hospital and have expressed willingness to welcome any international inspection.
**What is Al-Shifa Hospital?**
It is a large complex of buildings and basements located a few hundred meters from a small fishing port in Gaza City, situated between the Al-Shati refugee camp and the Al-Rimal neighborhood.
**What about its patients?**
As of Tuesday, the hospital was caring for 36 infants according to the medical staff, who stated that there is no clear mechanism for their transfer, despite Israel's offer to provide incubators for evacuation. Three out of 39 premature infants have died since fuel necessary for operating the generators that powered the incubators ran out this week.
**How did it become a hot spot?**
The hospital was built in 1946 during British rule, two years before Britain withdrew from Palestine. It remained operational during nearly two decades of Egyptian administration over the Gaza Strip after the 1948 War. In 1967, Israel seized and occupied the territory, leading to regular clashes nearby, sometimes extending to the hospital. The Times of London reported in 1971 about a firefight between a Palestinian gunman hiding under a bed in the nurses' room and an Israeli army patrol searching the hospital.
On the first day of the first intifada against Israeli occupation on December 9, 1987, Al-Shifa Hospital was again drawn into the conflict. Hamas was established during this uprising. A story from Reuters' archives states: "An Israeli army helicopter circled Al-Shifa Hospital three times today, then flew low over the walls and dropped a tear gas canister in the central courtyard." Palestinian nurses, relatives of patients, and students scattered in panic and tears. A young man picked up the canister and threw it into the street. Someone shouted, "They are firing from the helicopter."
It was a rumor, one of many circulating while young men armed with stones and bottles stood at the burning street barriers outside the hospital. In 1994, security forces from the Palestinian Liberation Organization saluted the Palestinian flag after it was raised over the hospital when Palestinians were granted limited self-rule in Gaza during the Oslo peace process.
Hamas achieved a surprising victory in the 2006 elections in Gaza by appealing to voters angry over corruption within the then Palestinian Authority. The group militarily took control of the enclave the following year, forcing the long-dominant Fatah movement out. During the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas, which escalated up to Hamas's takeover of the territory, Al-Shifa Hospital and others were used to treat fighters from both sides under a ceasefire arrangement that prohibited either side from harming the wounded of the other.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since then, but hospital staff receive their salaries from the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. During the 2008-2009 war, in which over 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, Israel accused Hamas of using underground areas in Al-Shifa Hospital to hide. Hamas denied this, and Reuters could not verify these allegations.
