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Hundreds of residents rushed to the area around the Gaza Strip's
largest hospital to check on damage to the surrounding
residential districts after fighting between Israel and the
Palestinian Hamas group that administers Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of
gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized
weaponry and intelligence documents. Hamas and medical staff
deny that Palestinian fighters have any armed presence in
hospitals.
A spokesman for Gaza's Civil Emergency Service said Israeli
forces had executed two people whose bodies were found at the
complex in handcuffs, and used bulldozers to dig up the grounds
of the complex and exhume buried bodies.
Reuters could not verify the allegation of executions and
Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Footage circulated on social media and not yet verified by
Reuters showed the bodies of dead Palestinians, some covered in
dirty blankets, scattered on the ground around the charred hulk
of the hospital building, many of whose outer walls were
missing.
It showed the grounds heavily ploughed up, and numerous
buildings outside the facility either flattened or burned down.
"I haven't stopped crying since I arrived here, horrible
massacres were committed by the occupation here," said Samir
Basel, 43, speaking to Reuters via a chat app as he toured Al
Shifa.
"The place is destroyed, buildings have been burnt and
destroyed. This place needs to be rebuilt - there is no Shifa
hospital anymore," Basel said.
Israel said operations inside Al Shifa had been conducted "while
preventing harm to civilians, patients and medical teams".
(Writing by Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Kevin
Liffey)
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