Hundreds of Bodies Evacuated from Al Shifa Hospital After Withdrawal of Israeli Troops, Head of Ambulance Crew: This is a Disaster

JAKARTA - Conditions around Al Shifa Hospital were described as a disaster, after Israeli troops withdrew from the hospital complex.

Medical service crews were working to recover hundreds of bodies "scattered" around the Al-Shifa medical complex, they said on Monday, as the scale of the destruction emerged following the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

"What is happening here is a disaster in the truest sense, which is detrimental to humanity and the health system in the Gaza Strip," said Fares Afanca, head of the ambulance crew in Gaza City, according to CNN, April 1.

Meanwhile, Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestine Initiative and director of the Palestine Medical Relief Society described a "massacre" with "hundreds of mutilated children, women and civilian men killed by Israeli soldiers."

One hundred and thirty "sick and injured people were found in poor health, dehydrated, starving, with infected and fly-infested wounds," he continued.

Several decomposing and disfigured bodies partially buried under the rubble of what was once Gaza's largest hospital can be seen in video obtained by CNN.

As previously reported, at least 300 bodies have been recovered so far at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Palestine, following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the medical complex on Monday, according to the Gaza Civil Defense.

The organization said it was difficult to determine the exact number of people killed because Israeli forces buried bodies in and around the Al Shifa compound, and bulldozed nearby streets.

The Israeli military announced the withdrawal of all its troops from the Al Shifa Hospital Complex in the Gaza Strip, ending a siege operation that had been going on for two weeks.

"IDF and ISA forces have completed appropriate operational activities in the Shifa Hospital area and exited the hospital area," said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), using the acronym for Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet.

Israel said its operations in and around the hospital were a "proper" anti-terror mission, saying it had done its best to avoid harm to civilians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said more than 200 militants had died in hospitals.

Meanwhile, in a briefing Monday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said 900 suspected militants had been detained in the two-week operation. More than 500 militants have been identified as members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hagari added, adding that some of those detained were "commanders and important people."