Gaza war: 32 dead in Al-Shifa hospital, including seven premature babies

Last updated 13 minutes ago

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced Monday that the death toll at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital has risen to 32, including seven premature babies since the end of the week, due to a lack of fuel in the medical complex, considered the largest of the Gaza Strip.

Health Ministry Undersecretary Yousef Abu Rish said all hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip were “out of order” due to running out of fuel needed to run electricity generators and shortages of medical supplies.

The World Health Organization said at least 2,300 people, including patients, medical staff and displaced people who fled the fighting, now reside inside the Al-Shifa medical complex.

Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salamiya told Agence France-Presse: “There are dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded that no one can reach. Ambulances remain stationary because they are exposed to gunfire when they leave the hospital “.

Israel claims that the Al-Shifa complex hides tunnels used by Hamas and the movement’s headquarters, but doctors at the hospital categorically deny this. Hospital officials also invited international bodies and the United Nations to visit the medical complex to confirm this for themselves.

A doctor at the hospital has appealed to the authorities concerned to intervene to evacuate more than 30 premature babies and transfer them to Egypt for their survival.

Dr Mike Noyce of the London-based organization Action Aid UK said he had contacted officials at the hospital, describing the situation facing medical staff working there as desperate.

He said: “What we hear, both through our contacts with Shifa, and from other hospitals we work with in northern Gaza, is a level of desperation and an almost total inability to work.”

For his part, Abdul Qader Hammad, a British doctor of Palestinian origin who volunteered in Gaza and returned to Britain, speaking on the BBC World Service’s “Newsday” program on Monday, described the situation in the Strip’s hospitals as “catastrophic ”.

He said that what the hospitals have become: “is not surprising, and that UN agencies warned of the expected consequences at least two or three weeks ago.”

In his speech, the doctor stressed that the evacuation of children and seriously injured patients is not an easy thing, adding that it is a huge and complex operation that requires a lot even if completed, including the search for a alternative capable of dealing with critical cases requiring intensive medical care.

The United Nations reported the killing of three nurses at Al-Shifa hospital, as “shelling and armed clashes” intensified around the hospital.

The international organization said on Sunday that the hospital’s vital infrastructure was also damaged, including the oxygen room, water tanks, a well, the cardiovascular department and the maternity ward.

Dr Ahmed Al-Makhalati, a surgeon at Al-Shifa hospital, said in a telephone interview with Reuters: “Israeli tanks are deployed in front of the hospital. We are under a global siege. It is a completely civilian area. The only one is there is a medical facility, patients, doctors and other civilians residing in the hospital.” “Someone has to stop this.”

Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, said an Israeli tank was stationed outside the gate of Al-Shifa hospital. Israeli snipers and drones are shooting towards the hospital, making it impossible for medical staff and patients to move within the complex.

“We are trapped in a circle of death,” Al-Qudra said.

Israel asked civilians to leave the compound and medical staff to send patients elsewhere. He said he attempted to evacuate the babies from the premature ward and left 300 liters of fuel to run backup electricity generators at the hospital’s entrance, but these offers were rejected by Hamas.

Al-Qudra responded to the Israeli claim by saying that 300 liters of fuel is enough to run Shifa’s generators for only half an hour, as the hospital needs between 8,000 and 10,000 liters of fuel per day, delivered by Red Cross or an Israeli agency. international body.

Premature babies who would normally be kept in separate incubators were placed next to each other, all eight in the same bed, and kept warm with whatever energy they had left, Al-Mukhallalati said.

He said 36 premature babies remained alive and “we expect to lose more day after day.”

The situation in other hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip is considered no better than that in Shifa.

Fighting is ongoing near Al-Quds hospital, surrounded by Israeli tanks and also out of service for days.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the hospital was surrounded by violent clashes and that the humanitarian convoy sent to evacuate patients and medical staff failed to reach the hospital.

Israel said it killed around 21 people it described as “terrorists” in Al-Quds Hospital as part of its response to gunfire from fighters at the hospital’s entrance.

On Monday, United Nations agencies observed a minute’s silence and flags were lowered to mourn the lives of 101 of its workers who have been killed so far in Gaza, the largest death toll for aid workers since the founding of the Nations United. of the Second World War.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it was sheltering nearly 800,000 people in the Gaza Strip, or half of those displaced from their homes by the fighting.

It said its services will stop within 48 hours due to running out of fuel, as it will not be able to run ambulances, supply hospitals, provide drinking water or pump sewage.

According to UNRWA, as of October 21, approximately 980 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

It is interesting to note that before the outbreak of the war around 500 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day.

For his part, Janez Lenarčić, the European Union’s humanitarian aid chief, called for a “significant” cessation of fighting and the sending of fuel shipments so that hospitals can continue their work in the Gaza Strip.

Lenarcic said: “More than half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip have stopped functioning, mainly due to lack of fuel, and there is an urgent need for fuel.”

Fuel is considered one of the basic needs in the Gaza Strip, especially to run electricity generators in hospitals, but Israel is blocking the entry of fuel as it says it fears some of these supplies will be transferred to Hamas.

Meanwhile, a Turkish ship carrying enough relief materials to set up eight field hospitals arrived at the Egyptian port of Al-Arish, near the Rafah crossing.

Turkish health officials said the ship was carrying electricity generators, ambulances and other medical supplies.

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh had called on the United States and the European Union to “launch” urgently needed aid to Gaza. But international organizations cannot carry out aid drops without obtaining Israel’s prior approval, as Jordan did when it coordinated with Israeli authorities to send aid to the Jordanian hospital in the Gaza Strip.