Crisis at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza: Lives at Risk

Yesterday, a doctor at al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza told NRK that they treated 2,000 patients. The hospital actually only has capacity for 700 patients.

Now the hospital is out of power, according to hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmeyah. The hospitals need fuel to run power generators.

All operations are put on hold. The information has not been confirmed by independent sources.

– All I can say is that lives have started to be lost. Patients die every minute, even babies in incubators, Selmeyah told Al-Jazeera.

A young boy receives treatment at the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.

Photo: Mohammad Masri

3 infants in incubators have now died, the health authorities in Gaza say CNNand a further 36 babies are at risk of dying, as a result of a lack of oxygen and medicines after the power cut.

In an earlier edition, Reuters reported that 39 babies had died. This was wrong. At 11:09, the agency corrected the quote to say that the babies are “at risk” of dying.

Israeli soldiers have surrounded the hospital, according to the director and Al Jazeera.

Doctors Without Borders warns on Saturday that people leaving the Shifa hospital in Gaza are being fired upon. By whom, is not known yet.

To Reuters, the IDF denies that they are shooting at the hospital. They also deny that the hospital is under siege.

Red Cross concerned

In the past 24 hours, several attacks have been carried out against a number of hospitals in Gaza.

Yesterday, NRK verified that several attacks had been carried out against al-Shifa.

The British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta at al-Shifa wrote on Friday evening that the wounded will not receive treatment at the hospital for long.

– The hospital has collapsed. Wounded and staff have left the hospital in droves, he wrote.

The number of dead at al-Shifa hospital is so high that mass graves are being planned, claims the director of the local health authorities in Gaza, Moir al-Barsh, on Saturday.

Foto: STRINGER / Reuters

– This has gone too far, says Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to NTB on Saturday.

Not even the children’s hospitals in Gaza have been spared from the violence, confirms the Red Cross.

It includes Al-Nassr Children’s Hospital, which has now suffered extensive destruction and Al Rantisi Hospital, which has had to close.

– Civilians are protected by the rules of war even if they decide not to evacuate, says Secretary General of the Red Cross, Anne Berg.

An injured Palestinian girl receives treatment at al-Shifa hospital

Foto: Abed Khaled / AP

– The Red Cross encourages the parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.

Israel has allowed some emergency aid through the blockade they maintain around Gaza, but not fuel. The large, independent aid organizations have made it clear that the emergency aid that is allowed into the occupied area is far from enough.

Have lost contact with employees

A doctor at al-Shifa hospital says chief correspondent Bel Trew in the British newspaper The Independent, that doctors and nurses have now been killed, that there is no longer staffing to treat the overwhelming flow of wounded arriving at the hospital.

Doctors Without Borders is said to have lost contact with its employees at the hospital.

– We are not able to contact our employees inside al-Shifa, and we are extremely concerned about the safety of the patients and health personnel, says surgeon Mohammed Obeid in Doctors Without Borders.

An injured girl and an injured man wait for medical help inside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Photo: BASHAR TALEB / AFP

There are many patients who have recently had an operation and who cannot walk, Obeid clarifies in an interview with Channel 4. He says they cannot be evacuated.

– They need ambulances to be able to evacuate, but we don’t have enough ambulances to transport all these patients.

Israel: Hamas tunnels under hospital

Israel claims that Hamas has a command center under the hospital, which is rejected both by Hamas, the hospital’s management and foreign doctors, including Mads Gilbert.

Israel claims to have shared evidence with allied countries, but none of them have vouched for the claim.

The same applies to Israel’s claim that Hamas is holding some of the Israeli hostages trapped in tunnels under the hospital.

Israel claimed earlier this week that it has evidence of Hamas tunnels under hospitals.

The patients suffer

The surgeon NRK spoke to yesterday, Adnan Alhadlaq, described the conditions at the Shifa hospital.

He then said that the hospital could not offer food, water or significant medical treatment.

Foto: Abed Khaled / AP

Patients were operated on without anesthesia or painkillers, according to the surgeon.

– We amputate without anesthesia. Do you understand? Adnan said in deep despair.

The World Health Organization has also confirmed the conditions in hospitals.

The lack of emergency aid means that, among other things, doctors in the Gaza Strip are now carrying out operations without patients receiving anaesthetic, including amputations, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated at a press conference on Tuesday.

2023-11-11 14:12:12
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