The condition of Gaza’s biggest hospital is ‘catastrophic’

tel aviv (Uttam Hindu News): The situation at Al-Shifa Hospital, one of the largest and oldest Palestinian health institutions in the Gaza Strip, has become “catastrophic” amid the Israel-Hamas war. The United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed this concern in a joint statement.

There are currently about two patients per bed and emergency departments and wards are full, leaving doctors and medical staff to treat injured and sick patients in corridors, floors and outdoors, the statement issued on Wednesday said.

It said, “The number of injured is increasing every hour. Patients are suffering excessive and unnecessary pain as medicines and anesthesia are running out. Additionally, thousands of displaced people have taken shelter in the parking lots and yards of the hospital.”

The statement said fuel has not been allowed to anyone in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa hospital, for more than a month.

The two UN bodies reiterated “their call for immediate delivery of fuel to humanitarian agencies in the Gaza Strip”.

“Without fuel, hospitals and other essential facilities such as desalination plants and bakeries cannot operate, and more people will surely die as a result,” the joint statement said.

As a result of fuel shortages, Gaza City’s Al Quds Hospital closed key services on Thursday, while Al Awda Hospital, the sole provider of maternity services in northern Gaza, warned of imminent closure.

The joint statement came a day after UNRWA and WHO delivered medical supplies and medicines to Al-Shifa Hospital.

This was only the second delivery of life-saving supplies to the hospital since hostilities escalated and the total siege of Gaza began.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces and the government have alleged that al-Shifa Hospital was also serving as a command center for Hamas and operating from several underground tunnels beneath the hospital.

Israel last week claimed responsibility for an attack outside a hospital, saying a fighter jet had attacked an ambulance used by Hamas militants.

The death toll in Gaza since the start of the war as of Thursday morning stood at 10,569, 67 percent of whom are children and women.

Apart from this, about 2,450 other people, including 1,350 children, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead in the debris.

According to WHO, the dead also included at least 192 medical workers, 16 of whom were on duty when they were killed.

A total of 92 UNRWA staff and 18 Palestinian civil defense personnel have also lost their lives in the fierce fighting.