Palestinians flee Al Shifa hospital after deadly strike
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[November 11, 2023]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - Ayman Al-Masri joined thousands of people seeking
safety in southern Gaza on Friday after fleeing the enclave's main
hospital in what Palestinian officials said was an Israeli air strike.
Masri had taken refuge at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, in the north
of the enclave, with his mother and sister 10 days ago after receiving
treatment in another hospital for a leg wound.
Their hopes that they had found safety were shattered by an attack which
Palestinian officials said killed one person and wounded others who were
sheltering at Al Shifa, one of several hospitals which officials said
were hit on Friday.
"They struck Shifa today... Everyone started to run to the streets and
we came here walking," Masri told Reuters as he and others made their
way south, some with belongings, mattresses, and luggage, and others
carrying white flags.
He said he and his family walked three kilometres (two miles) before
passing Israeli tanks that have advanced to the city, and walked a few
more kilometres beyond the tanks before getting a lift.
"My leg pains me," he said. "Today we are going south, tomorrow they may
send us north. This isn't a solution. We want a truce."
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Israel did not immediately comment but says it does not target civilians
and goes to great lengths to avoid hitting them. It says Hamas militants
have hidden command centres and tunnels beneath Shifa, allegations which
Hamas denies.
Israel has been pounding Gaza from the air, sea and ground since Hamas
gunmen broke through the enclave's border fence on Oct. 7 and carried
out an attack in which Israel said 1,400 people were killed and about
240 abducted.
Palestinian officials say more 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza
since Israel began its military campaign, and Gaza's hospitals are
struggling to cope, with medical supplies, clean water and fuel to power
generators running out.
CHAOTIC SCENES
A woman who fled Al Shifa on Friday said she had been receiving
treatment for a wound in the maternity department.
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![](../images/111123PIX/news_d72.jpg)
A Palestinian woman, who was injured in an Israeli strike and was
staying at Al Shifa hospital, moves southward after fleeing north
Gaza as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, amid the ongoing
conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip
November 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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"We were on the fifth floor because we were wounded so we were
staying there, and then we found bombs falling on us," she said.
"They made us run to the streets."
Video shared on social media, and verified by Reuters, showed
chaotic scenes in what appeared to be a covered, outdoor area near
Al Shifa's outpatient department, where displaced people had been
sleeping.
A girl in a purple T-shirt, with blood smeared over her face, neck
and hands, wailed in anguish and flapped her arms frantically. A boy
lay face-up and lifeless on a mattress on the ground, a pool of
blood under his head and an arm and a leg hanging over the side of
the mattress.
A man lay motionless under a bench, and a woman clad in black sat
slumped over a chair next to him.
Clothes, other personal belongings, mattresses and other household
items were strewn all around, and there was blood on the floor.
People were screaming, weeping and wailing.
One man was shown leading away a crying elderly woman. Two men
carried away a young man, one holding his legs, the other his hands.
Reuters was able to confirm the location from the girl seen in the
video wearing a purple T-shirt and dark trousers, who is also seen
in other footage at the entrance of the hospital.
The appearance of the hospital entrance also matched file imagery
and the source has uploaded several videos from the hospital
previously and was known to be there.
(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi; writing by Timothy Heritage;
editing by Mark Heinrich)
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