Eight patients died due to lack of oxygen in Gaza hospital: Minister

Gaza (Uttam Hindu News): Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said eight patients died at a major hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis due to a lack of electricity and oxygen supplies due to continued Israeli attacks. The Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital worsened the condition of critical patients due to the lack of essential treatment materials, he said in a statement on Monday.

He called for international efforts to press for the release of bedridden patients and medical staff. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza earlier said Israeli forces attacked Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis last Thursday after demolishing its southern wall.

A quantity of weapons and a vehicle belonging to an Israeli border kibbutz were found in the hospital, as well as drugs believed to be handed out to Israeli hostages, the IDF said on social media platform X on Sunday. Hamas was accused of using civilians in the hospital as human shields. On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces had turned the Nasser Medical Complex into a “military barracks,” putting the lives of patients and medical staff inside at risk.

The ministry said in a statement that 25 medical staff and 136 patients were still in the hospital without electricity, water, food and oxygen. The World Health Organization is making efforts to transport the remaining patients to other hospitals, but Israeli forces are still obstructing medical and humanitarian aid to the compound. Meanwhile, the IDF retweeted a statement from COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s liaison unit, that generators, fuel and medicine donated by WHO were delivered to Nasser Hospital.