2023-11-19 00:01:42
The World Health Organization announced that it led a mission on Saturday to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which had become a target of Israeli raids, noting that it was working on developing plans to evacuate the hospital, which it said had become a “death zone.”
The organization said in a statement that it is working with its partners to “develop urgent plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families,” adding that 291 patients and 25 caregivers were still in the hospital on Saturday, Archyde.com reported.
The team that visited the hospital included public health experts, logistical officials and security personnel from various United Nations departments.
The organization added that due to security risks, the team was only able to spend one hour inside the hospital, describing it as a “death zone.”
The organization’s statement said that the team saw a mass grave at the entrance to the hospital, and was told that more than 80 people were buried there.
The organization’s Secretary-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on the X platform: “The team saw a hospital that was no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, and medical supplies were exhausted.”
He added, “Given this unfortunate situation and the condition of many patients, including children, healthcare staff have requested assistance in evacuating patients who can no longer receive vital care on site.”
The World Health Organization stated in its statement that the vast majority of patients who are still in the hospital suffer from complex fractures, amputations, burns, and trauma to the chest and abdomen, noting that 29 patients suffer from serious injuries to the spine and are unable to move without medical assistance. Many patients also suffer from infections. Severe cases due to a lack of antibiotics and poor hygiene conditions, according to Agence France-Presse.
According to the World Health Organization, several missions will be organized in the coming days to urgently evacuate the remaining patients to Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital in Gaza, even though these two medical institutions are “already working beyond their capacity.”
On Saturday, hundreds of people were discharged from Al-Shifa Hospital by order of the Israeli army, according to what an Agence France-Presse journalist reported, while the Gaza Ministry of Health said that “120 wounded and premature babies are still there.”
The ministry confirmed: “We are in contact with the Red Cross regarding them,” without giving further details.
Doctor Ahmed Al-Makhalati, who is inside Al-Shifa Hospital, said in a post on his account on the “X” platform, “Many patients are unable to leave the hospital because they are in intensive care beds or in incubators.”
He added, “I and five other doctors will remain in Al-Shifa Hospital with 120 patients,” calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization “to take steps to protect the medical staff and patients in Al-Shifa Hospital.”
Tanks, personnel carriers, and other Israeli armored vehicles were seen in the vicinity of the hospital, while drones flew over the area.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, became the focus of the operation carried out by Israel, amid its accusation that Hamas used the hospital as a leadership center, which the movement denies.
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Muhammad Abu Salamiya, announced in a call to Sky News Arabia on Friday that all patients in the hospital’s intensive care department had died, due to the Israeli siege on the medical complex.
Abu Salamiya reported that more than 54 people in intensive care have died since the start of the Israeli siege.
He noted that the only feature now in Al-Shifa Hospital is death, as treatment, water and oxygen are not available in the hospital, due to the siege imposed on the medical complex for more than a week.
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