Destruction of Gaza”s Shifa Hospital rips heart out of health system, WHO says

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, in Gaza City April 1, 2024. REUTERS/ Dawoud Abu Alkas

GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that the destruction of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza amounted to “ripping the heart out” of the health system of the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

“Destroying Al Shifa means ripping the heart out of the health system,” said WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris?.

“It was the place people go to for the kind of care that a really good health system provides, that we in all our societies expect to have should we be in need.”

Israeli forces left Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week operation by special forces, who detained hundreds of Palestinians it said were suspected militants and left a wasteland of destroyed buildings. — Reuters