The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has urged an immediate international probe into Israel’s “horrifying and shocking” war crimes in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital.
“The scale of destruction, torture, killing and the number of the Palestinian detainees in this hospital are horrifying and shocking,” Nasser Kan’ani said in a post on his X account on Monday.
He made the remarks based on the released images of Al-Shifa hospital after a two-week siege by the Israeli army, the statements made by the field witnesses and video and news reports.
“An international investigation is an urgent necessity,” he emphasized.
The Iranian spokesman asked whether international assemblies and institutions would fulfill their duty.
“Will the well-known self-professed human rights advocates support an international investigation into the aspects of this blatant war crime, or will the selective and discriminatory behavior towards human rights continue?” Kan’ani asked.
In a statement on Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces have withdrawn tanks and vehicles from Al-Shifa Hospital after a two-week siege of the medical complex.
The ministry said that dozens of bodies, some of them decomposed, had been found at the complex after the Israeli pullout, which also left behind a vast swath of destruction.
It emphasized that Israel retreated from the hospital “after burning down the complex buildings and putting it completely out of service.”
Gaza’s media office announced in a statement that more than 400 Palestinians have lost their lives during the Israeli military’s raid on Al-Shifa hospital during a two-week deadly raid.
The statement added that the fatalities include patients, war-displaced and healthcare staff, noting that hundreds more have been arrested and subjected to torture.
On March 18, heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the hospital using tanks and drones, firing at people inside the complex.
The Israeli military claimed that the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement is using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” Later that day, Israel said that “terrorist forces” were firing at Israeli troops.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at the time that about 3,000 people were inside the medical complex seeking refuge and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by snipers and fire from helicopters.
