Mass graves at hospital in Gaza after Israelwithdrew its forces | BBC News

Palestinian locals said the burnt-out remains of theal-Shifa hospital "reeked of death" after Israeli forces left on 1 April.

During the past eight months of war, hospitals havecome under repeated attack, with Israel claiming theyare used as bases by Hamas; something the group denies.

But events at al-Shifa - once the biggest and bestequipped medical facility in the Gaza Strip - havearguably been the most dramatic.

The two-week surprise raid, launched after Israel saidHamas had regrouped at the site, was described bythe Israeli government as "precise and surgical".

Its spokesman, Avi Hyman, asserted that it had set"the gold standard of urban warfare". He said: "Wetook out over 200 terrorists. We apprehended over 900terrorists with not a single civilian casualty.

With decaying bodies sticking out of the sand piled upby combat bulldozers in the courtyards of al-Shifa, theclaim that there had been no civilian casualties was immediately questioned.

In recent weeks, four mass graves have beenuncovered at the site, with Palestinian search teamssaying that several hundred bodies have been found.