The bodies of two of Gaza’s most respected doctors, a mother and son, have been found among the dead after the Israeli army’s withdrawal from al-Shifa hospital, following its two-week siege of the medical complex.

Ahmad al-Maqadmeh, a Palestinian plastic surgeon in his early thirties, and his mother Yusra al-Maqadmeh, a general practitioner, were found dead alongside their cousin Bassem al-Maqadmeh at the roundabout next to the Carrefour Mall in Gaza City, a short walk from al-Shifa.

Both doctors were working at al-Shifa when the Israeli siege of Gaza’s largest medical complex began. They had lost contact with their family six or seven days ago and it is thought that they were executed by Israeli forces as they were trying to escape the hospital. Their bodies were found riddled with bullets.

Israeli military officials said that its forces had killed 200 people and arrested 900 during the 15-day assault on the hospital. Gaza’s civil defence said that around 300 people had been killed.

The army said it conducted its raid without harming civilians and medical personnel. Medical organisations and eyewitnesses strongly rejected that claim, with the deaths of Ahmad and Yusra al-Maqadmeh backing up these rejections.