
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
Similar to water, electricity, and food supply chains, the healthcare system, with its staff, clinics, hospitals, ambulances, and other facilities, is an essential part of the life-sustaining infrastructures of every society. It is hard to imagine a reality where the sick and injured have nowhere to receive treatment. In times of war and armed conflict, with the presence of traumatic war injuries and the interruption of daily medical practice, the healthcare system takes on an even more crucial role in saving lives and minimizing the harm of war on civilians.
Introduction
In April 2024, over seven months into Israel's genocidal onslaught on Gaza, Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza discovered several mass graves at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, drawing significant media attention.[1] The Civil Defence in Gaza reported that nearly 400 bodies of women, men, children, and the elderly were buried in these graves.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Gaza's al-Shifa hospital, again, on March 18, placing it and the surrounding area of the complex under a complete siege. Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, has been serving as a shelter for an estimated 30,000 displaced individuals, wounded patients, and staff.
On the eve of the sixth month of Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ended their two-week siege of Al-Shifa Hospital. The once-beating heart of Gaza's medical infrastructure was burned to a crisp. Hundreds of Palestinians were massacred in the hospital complex that once housed over 30,000 displaced people and treated thousands of patients.