2024-01-08 14:10:00
A key hospital in central Gaza “must continue to function,” the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday, following several aid organizations withdrew medical staff from the facility citing increased Israeli military activity in the area. .
In a statement, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah is “the most important hospital left in central Gaza” and demanded that the facility , its staff, patients and families located in its facilities are protected from ongoing hostilities.
“Three months into this conflict, it is inconceivable that this most essential need – the protection of health care – is not assured,” he said.
Aid groups Medical Aid for the Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) emergency medical team announced on Sunday their withdrawal from Al-Aqsa Hospital following the Israeli army dropped leaflets in central Gaza ordering Palestinians evacuate to “shelters” in the zone. Doctors Without Borders said on Saturday that it would evacuate its staff working in Al-Aqsa due to artillery fire in the area.
No hospitals are fully operational in northern Gaza and only “a handful” of health facilities in other parts of the territory were operational, Tedros said in his statement.
He said representatives of the WHO and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs who visited Al-Aqsa Hospital on Sunday saw a large number of wounded being taken for urgent treatment.
“WHO staff saw sickening scenes of people of all ages being treated on blood-stained floors and in chaotic corridors. An unidentified child lay dead, partially covered by a sheet, on a bed. Other injured people were left prostrate on the ground, being stepped on by health personnel and family members,” the statement said.
Tedros said evacuation orders and a lack of security had forced most medical staff to leave. “Reports tonight indicate that there are only 5 doctors left. The hospital management said that the health workers did not have food,” he said.
CNN cannot independently confirm the details of his statement. The Israel Defense Forces have said they do not generally attack medical facilities, but have accused Hamas of using them as cover for military activities and reserve the right to attack them if so.
Tedros said the WHO was planning to facilitate the deployment of an emergency medical team to support Al-Aqsa’s overstretched doctors and nurses, but that would only be possible in a safe environment.
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