Nov 12, 2023 at 7:45 AM Update: an hour ago
Growing concerns for the patients in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital. Outside there are heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas, but there are also casualties in the hospital due to a lack of fuel for generators. The WHO calls it “very worrying and frightening”.
For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) has had no contact with the besieged Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City since Saturday. The organization assumes that the hospital employees with whom it maintained contact have fled.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentions Sunday morning X the situation in the hospital “very worrying and frightening”.
Deeply worrisome and frightening: @WHO has lost contact with its focal points in Al-Shifa Hospital in #Gazaamid horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks.
There are reports that some of those who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded, or killed.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 12, 2023
According to hospital director, dozens of babies are in mortal danger
Al Shifa is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. It has been without electricity since Saturday because the fuel for the generators has run out. As a result, emergency services have virtually come to a standstill, according to hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
According to the director, two babies died due to the lack of care. About forty other babies would be at risk of death if help is not provided in the short term. The hospital not only houses patients, it is also a refuge for thousands of Gaza residents fleeing the violence of war.
Israel says Hamas fighters are hiding in tunnels under Al Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza City. The areas around the hospitals are therefore a target for the army.
Possible evacuation of patients in danger on Sunday
The hospital management and the Israeli army previously announced that babies and other patients who are in danger of death will be evacuated on Sunday.
An Israeli army spokesman said on Sunday CNN that Israel is helping to clear the hospital “because we don’t want Hamas to continue using these people as human shields in the future.”
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According to the UN Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), several hospitals in Gaza were hit by Israeli shelling on Saturday. The Indonesian Hospital (donated by the Indonesian people in 2016) would also run out of fuel. In the Al Quds hospital, the generators failed and could not be repaired due to shelling, the organization reports.
Of WHO calls for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza” so that patients and staff can be evacuated from Al Shifa Hospital. According to the World Health Organization, several doctors and nurses were killed while at work during the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
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The difference between a ceasefire and a humanitarian pause
Image: AFP
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IsraelForeignIsraeli-Palestinian conflictGaza conflict update
2023-11-12 06:45:00
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