Israeli forces ordered doctors, patients, and displaced people at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital to evacuate the medical compound, forcing some to leave by gunpoint, medical sources told Al Jazeera on Saturday. 

The hospital housed more than 7,000 people, including critical patients.

Doctors said the facility, which has been under siege by Israeli troops for several days, was now largely deserted hours after soldiers ordered people to leave on Saturday.

But in a post on X, the Israeli army spokesperson denied giving any order, claiming the “IDF responded to the request of the director of Shifa Hospital to allow Gazan citizens who were sheltering in the hospital and who wish to evacuate from Shifa Hospital towards the humanitarian crossing in the Gaza Strip via a secure axis”.

Mohammed Zaqout, the director-general of hospitals in Gaza, reiterated to Al Jazeera: “I categorically deny these false allegations [from the Israeli army] … I am telling you we were forced to leave by gunpoint.”
He said the Israeli army called the hospital management at 8 am local time [5am GMT] and told them to evacuate the complex within an hour. He added that they were directed to exist along a route where “charred bodies” were strewn across the street.

Beirut-based Hamas representative Osama Hamdan said “what unfolded at al-Shifa Hospital is another episode in a series of Israeli crimes” against Palestinians.