WHO: All hospitals in northern Gaza closed down and patients begged for food, a disgraceful sight
(AFP, Geneva, 21st) The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that no hospital in the northern Gaza Strip of the Palestinian autonomous region is no longer functioning, and personnel involved in the mission described most of the abandoned patients begging for food. The sight of people drinking water is unbearable to watch.
The United Nations WHO said it had sent a team yesterday to the severely damaged Al-Shifa Hospital and Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Our staff are at a loss for words to describe the tragic situation faced by the remaining patients and health care workers,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in Gaza.
The Palestinian armed group “Hamas” raided Israel on October 7, and Israel subsequently launched a war on the Gaza Corridor under Hamas’ rule.
The hospital in Gaza became the focus of an expanded Israeli military operation last month. Gaza’s largest hospital was bombed and destroyed in what the World Health Organization previously described as a “bloodbath.”
The smaller Ali Arab Hospital later became the only place where surgeries could be performed in northern Gaza, but the director said the hospital ceased operations on the 19th of this month after being attacked by Israeli troops.
Pieperkorn told reporters in Geneva via video call from Jerusalem that the WHO-led team revealed that Ali Arab Hospital was “overwhelmed with patients in need of emergency care” just two days ago and was now “an empty shell.”
He added: “Operating theaters are no longer functioning due to lack of fuel, electricity, medical supplies and medical staff, including surgeons and other specialists. Hospitals have come to a complete standstill.”
Of the original 36 hospitals in Gaza, only nine are now partially operational, and they are all located in southern Gaza. “There are no hospitals in the north that are functioning,” Pieperkorn said.
The Israeli military has accused Hamas of building tunnels under hospitals and using medical facilities as command centers, but Hamas denies this. When asked about the incident, Pieperkorn said, “We did not see anything like this during our mission in the field,” adding that the WHO “cannot say how the hospital was being exploited.”
He said about 10 staff members were still working hard to provide basic first aid at Ali Arab Hospital, while about 80 patients were taking refuge in the church and surgical areas on the campus.
Sean Casey, coordinator of the WHO emergency medical team involved in the mission, said the scene they saw at the church was “horrible”. About 30 patients were not seeking care, but begging for water, including Young children and some patients with severe trauma, “now this is a place where everyone is waiting to die.”
He once again called for a ceasefire between Israel and Kazakhstan so that sufficient aid can enter Gaza and more patients can be evacuated from Gaza.
When he was asked if time was running out, he replied, “I think it is too late” and said, “We have many adults and children who are hungry. No matter where we go, people are asking us for food.” In the hospital Even people with bleeding and broken bones were begging for food regardless of the pain.
“If that’s not a sign of despair, I don’t know what is.”
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2023-12-22 12:25:09
