1948 to 2023: How Gaza's Al Shifa hospital was at the centre of conflicts

Al Shifa Hospital, which has been raided by Israel, is the largest in the Gaza Strip.

Both Israel and the United States have said that Hamas militants were using Gaza’s hospitals, including Shifa, to hide command posts and hostages using underground tunnels.

Hamas, which has controlled the coastal enclave since 2007, has built a tunnel city stretching beneath Gaza for hundreds of kilometres, up to 80 metres (87 yards) deep in parts.

Hamas, health authorities and Shifa directors have denied that the group is concealing military infrastructure in or under the complex and have said they would welcome an international inspection.

What does Shifa mean?

Shifa is a sprawling complex of buildings and courtyards a few hundred metres from Gaza City’s small fishing port, sandwiched between Beach refugee camp and the city’s Rimal neighbourhood.

Its name comes from the Arabic word “healing” – common for hospitals in the Middle East.

What about the patients?

The hospital was caring for 36 babies as of Tuesday, according to medical staff there who said there was no clear mechanism to move them despite an Israeli effort to supply incubators for an evacuation.

Three of the original 39 premature babies have already died since Gaza’s biggest hospital ran out of fuel at the weekend to power generators that had kept their incubators going.

How did it become a flashpoint?

It was built in 1946 during British rule, two years before Britain withdrew from Palestine. It survived the Egyptian invasion in 1948 and two decades of Egyptian military rule.

In 1967, Israel captured and occupied the Gaza Strip and in subsequent years, there were regular clashes nearby which sometimes moved into the grounds.

In 1971, the Times of London reported a gun battle between a Palestinian militant who hid under a bed in the nurses’ quarters and an Israeli army patrol that was searching the hospital.

On December 9, 1987, the first day of the First Intifada against Israeli occupation during which Hamas was formed, Shifa was again pulled into the conflict.