2023-11-12 16:26:39
The Israeli army is advancing with tanks on the largest hospital in Gaza; it has already ceased operations. Meanwhile, the situation in other hospitals on the coastal strip continues to deteriorate.
A wounded Palestinian woman fled to the less contested south of the Gaza Strip on Friday. She was previously treated at Shifa Hospital.
Ibrahim Abu Mustafa / Archyde.com
Israeli soldiers have been fighting Hamas terrorists around the Shifa Hospital in Gaza since the weekend. According to consistent reports, the Israeli army has advanced into the immediate area with tanks. The largest hospital on the coastal strip has used up its water and food supplies and there is no longer any electricity, the hospital manager told the Arabic broadcaster on Saturday al-Jazeera. The hospital has largely ceased operations.
Two premature babies died in the hospital when the pediatric intensive care unit could no longer work due to a lack of electricity. A surgeon on site confirmed the deaths of the two babies. Doctors Without Borders reported ongoing bomb attacks on the hospital since Friday.
On Sunday, Hamas announced it would stop negotiations for the release of at least 239 hostages who were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, according to Archyde.com news agency. The terrorist organization cited Israel’s handling of the Shifa Hospital as the reason.
While Palestinian sources spoke of a siege and reported that people escaping the building were attacked by Israeli soldiers, an Israeli Defense Force spokesman denied this. “The eastern side of the hospital is open for safe passage,” the spokesman said on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Israeli army would not stop fighting for the hospital. Around a hundred patients have already been evacuated from the hospital, Netanyahu said.
The Israeli army also denied that it was shelling the hospital. A spokesman said on Saturday: “We are fighting against terrorists who have decided to attack us from near Shifa Hospital.”
Another Israeli army spokesman said on Saturday that Hamas had tunneled under Shifa Hospital for years, turning it into a “military stronghold.” This is a breach of international humanitarian law. The Israel Defense Forces will therefore view it as a military target, while maintaining a distinction between combatants and civilians.
Videos of interrogations of captured Hamas terrorists confirm this. Accordingly, Hamas uses the tunnels under the hospital as a command center and abuses the civilians as humanitarian shields. The Shifa and other hospitals were deliberately chosen by Hamas because it assumed that “the Jews do not attack hospitals,” as one of those interviewed said.
37 premature babies are in mortal danger
The situation is particularly dramatic for premature babies in Shifa Hospital. According to the hospital manager, the remaining 37 babies are in mortal danger because there is hardly any fuel left to run the incubators using generators.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it would help bring the babies to a safer hospital. A military spokesman said on Sunday: “We will provide the necessary support.”
The Shifa Hospital has 700 beds. According to Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization (WHO), there are currently hundreds of patients in the hospital. On Sunday, the WHO announced that it had lost contact with the hospital.
The brightly lit Shifa Hospital on October 24th, three days before the start of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza. There has been no electricity since Saturday.
Mohammed Saber / EPA
Medical care is on the verge of collapse
The Shifa Hospital is not an isolated case. Other large hospitals in Gaza can no longer operate. On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said the Al-Kuds Hospital was no longer operating due to power outages and a lack of fuel. This is the second largest hospital in Gaza after Shifa. Like Shifa, al-Kuds is also surrounded by Israeli tanks.
A doctor from the Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip announced on Sunday, the hospital no longer has any blood supplies. Another doctor said on Sunday, that it is the only hospital in northern Gaza that is still in operation.
For the people of Gaza, the impending collapse of medical care is a catastrophe. For the Israeli army, the fighting around the hospitals represents an immense military – and political – challenge. Because Hamas is deliberately hiding under medical facilities, it is difficult for Israelis to achieve their war goal of destroying the terrorist organization without further endangering civilians.
The terrorists’ inhumane and cynical plan seems to be working. On Sunday, US Presidential Security Advisor Jake Sullivan commented on reports of Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza. He said in the direction of Israelthe USA did not want to see “firefights in hospitals”.
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