Al Shifa Hospital’s director was on duty Saturday coordinating the facility’s response to Israel’s assault on Gaza City when two strike victims arrived in the ward: his own brother and sister-in-law.
"I was shocked and devastated to see the bodies of my brother and his wife," said Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was working in the emergency department of the territory's main hospital at the time.
"Anything is possible now, as you receive your dearest ones as martyrs or wounded," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "The occupation's crimes continue, and the number of martyrs keeps rising."
As Israel presses its new offensive to occupy the territory's largest urban centre, despite widespread fears for the safety of both its residents and the hostages being held by Hamas, Salmiya was not the only one dealing with loss.
An AFP journalist saw ambulances with sirens blaring pull into the hospital compound early Saturday, bringing more bodies of people killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza City.
