Al-Shifa Hospital siege 2023
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 2023 | Wikidata P580 (start time); 2 differing years recorded, earliest shown |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Palestine | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Gaza War, Gaza genocide, Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Siege of Gaza City, attacks on health facilities during the Gaza war | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Hamas, Israel Defense Forces | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 31.5243, 34.4428 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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.
On 11 November, the hospital was completely encircled, cutting it off from the rest of Gaza City. According to Gazan health officials, the hospital contained 1,500 patients, 1,500 medical workers and around 15,000 displaced people who were seeking shelter in the hospital. Both Israel and the United States have said that Hamas maintained command centers or command "nodes" below the hospital. Both the hospital's administration and Hamas denied that, with the former asking the international community to send security experts to verify the Israeli allegations. There were over 100 dead bodies placed in the courtyard and later buried by medical staff in a mass grave due to the siege. On 15 November, Israeli forces said they entered the hospital after killing militants outside, and that they had discovered a Hamas command centre, weaponry, and tactical gear.
After a media tour, The Guardian and CNN reported that the Israeli army had rearranged or doubled weapons for the tour and that an Israeli video showing the discoveries had been edited.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Al-Shifa Hospital siege (revision 1381351628), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Gaza (312 BC) 312 BC · 1 km
- Battle of Gaza (2007) 2007 · 1 km
- Siege of Gaza (332 BC) 332 BC · 1 km
- Siege of Gaza City 2023 · 4 km
- Battle of Jabalia 2023 · 4 km
- Siege of North Gaza 2024 · 4 km
Other battles of the Gaza War
- Battle of Beit Hanoun 2023
- Battle of Jabalia 2023
- Battle of Sufa 2023
- Kamal Adwan Hospital sieges 2023
- Nahal Oz attack 2023
- Zikim attack 2023
- 2024 Maroun al-Ras clashes 2024
- Siege of North Gaza 2024
- Storming of Paga Outpost
All 10 battles of the Gaza War →
Browse more: battles in Palestine · Asia · Post-1945 battles