Al-Shifa Hospital Siege

Overview

Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, was placed under siege by Israel in mid-November 2023 during the Gaza war, after saying it had contained a Hamas command and control center beneath it. The incident was followed by a second major raid by Israeli forces in March 2024.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Al-Shifa Hospital, described as the largest medical complex in Gaza, became a focal point of the Gaza War when Israeli forces placed it under siege in mid-November 2023. Israel stated that the facility concealed a Hamas command and control center beneath it, framing the operation as targeting military infrastructure embedded within a protected medical site. The episode drew international attention to questions of humanitarian law and the use of civilian infrastructure in urban warfare. A second major Israeli raid on the complex followed in March 2024, indicating that the site retained operational significance across multiple phases of the conflict.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)