The World Health Organization on Saturday condemned the “massive destruction” to the largest hospital in Gaza as a result of the recent Israeli siege, and it has become an “empty structure” except for corpses.
Israeli forces withdrew from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week military operation during which they said they clashed with Palestinian fighters inside what was previously the most important medical complex in the Palestinian Strip.
A World Health Organization mission was able to enter the hospital on Friday after several failed attempts since March 25, according to the United Nations body, which condemned the massive destruction there.
Special photos show the extent of the massive destruction in Al-Shifa Hospital
A post by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the “X” platform stated:
• WHO and its partners gained access to the Al-Shifa Complex, once the backbone of Gaza’s health system, which is now an empty shell except for human graves after the recent siege.
• The team saw at least five bodies during the mission.
• Team members also noticed that the majority of the hospital complex’s buildings suffered massive damage, and that most of the assets were damaged or turned into ashes.
• Even recovery of the operating minimum in the short term seems impossible.
• An in-depth evaluation by a team of engineers is needed to determine whether the remaining buildings are safe for future use.
• Tedros regretted that efforts by the World Health Organization and other relief organizations to resume basic services at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israel’s first devastating raid on the hospital last year “were in vain, and people were once again denied access to life-saving health care services.”
• Tedros stressed that urgent action is needed in Gaza with “looming famine, disease outbreaks and traumatic injuries on the rise.”
• He called for “protecting the remaining health facilities in Gaza and protecting health and humanitarian workers.”
• The Director-General of the World Health Organization called for “unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip” and for a “ceasefire.”
Of the 36 main hospitals in Gaza, only ten are partially functioning, according to the World Health Organization.
The war broke out on October 7 with Hamas launching an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
Israel responded by pledging to “eliminate” Hamas, and has since launched an intense bombing campaign and a large-scale ground attack, causing the deaths of 33,137 people, most of them women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, and leaving massive destruction and a serious humanitarian disaster in the Strip.
During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 129 of whom are still hostage in Gaza, and 34 of them are believed to have died, according to official Israeli estimates.
2024-04-06 22:16:15
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