The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that it will begin transferring the remains of martyrs buried inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City next Sunday, as part of efforts to rehabilitate the complex following the destruction caused by Israel during the war.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Ministry said that the Al-Shifa administration is working to “reorganize and rehabilitate the health services at the complex by establishing alternative field extensions to replace the destroyed buildings and departments.”
The Ministry called on the families of the martyrs to contact them to arrange for the transfer of the remains, explaining that after the 7th of this month, “all the remains will be treated as unidentified and transferred to the Deir al-Balah cemetery.”
During the war, the Gaza Strip witnessed widespread burials of martyrs in temporary and mass graves, especially in the besieged areas of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, there was widespread random burial in schoolyards, hospitals, streets, and markets due to the inability to access official cemeteries.
Al-Shifa Medical Complex was among the sites where Palestinians buried their loved ones during the Israeli offensive.
During the war, the Israeli army stormed the hospital twice, the first in November 2023, and the second in March 2024, which led to the complete destruction and burning of its buildings and sections. According to the government’s media office in Gaza, in May 2024, medical staff found a mass grave inside Al-Shifa Complex, from which dozens of bodies were recovered. According to the media office, the mass graves come “within the framework of the war of genocide and the historical crime committed by the occupation army inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex, during which nearly 400 martyrs were executed.”
