Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the center of the Gaza Strip is on the verge of collapse. Even as Al-Aqsa Mosque houses thousands of the dead and hosts thousands of refugees, medical staff at the Al-Aqsa Mosque continue to work tirelessly to find ways to treat the injured.
“We work 72 hours straight. We rarely take a break. Sometimes, we stay in the hospital for a whole week,” Mohammad Abu Ali, an exhausted nurse at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, told us new arab.
Mohammed is not the only exhausted staff member in Gaza’s battered hospitals these days. Dr. Khalid Abu-Habel was equally heartbroken, “We are working beyond human capabilities, and every day we are checking more than 10 cases in a row. As more and more of us are rescued from the rubble, the situation continues to deteriorate dramatically.”
“Contaminated water, expired food and lack of cleanliness in the hospital frightened us. We have had dozens of cases of patients with gastroenteritis, jaundice and bronchitis, especially among children. Long after the genocide ended Inside, these cases will haunt us.”
Unfortunately, such a heavy workload is now taking its toll on Khalid and Mohammed. “We don’t have time for breakfast,” they told new arab. “We rarely had lunch. We only had a can of beans at the end of the day.”
For the first time in all of Israel’s previous aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip, people have sought refuge inside a hospital.
Hospitals across Gaza now house hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of civilians, with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and Shifa Hospital – the latter now under siege and attack by Israeli forces – the most overcrowded.
Medical professionals are now juggling responsibilities between patients and refugees.
Khalil Al-Degran, the official spokesperson of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, said: “We estimate that more than 5,000 people are injured and 2,400 people have died in the hospital. These numbers are unimaginable and far exceed the capacity of the hospital. ability.”
“Most of the injured require intensive care, but there are only eight ICU beds in the hospital. Unfortunately, most of our patients are beyond our control of care.”
It is not only patients and refugees who suffer, but also medical staff. “They barely eat and are forced to sleep on the ground for an hour or two. When they go back to work, the equipment is gone. It’s catastrophic,” lamented Khalil, adding, “The loss of manpower and material The shortage means medical students still at university are being called upon to volunteer.”
After the Israeli bombing of the Turkish Friendship Hospital in Gaza, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital now has full responsibility for cancer patients in Gaza. The maternity unit at Al-Aqsa Mosque now doubles as a cancer ward. In the ward, the baby cried for milk, but there was no milk in the hospital, causing the baby to become sick as soon as he was born.
Yet despite their exhaustion, the doctors at Al-Aqsa Mosque refused to give up and abandon their patients.
Dr Abdul-Qader Wesah, a senior emergency physician, has not been discharged since October 7. He hasn’t met his family yet.He said New Arabia: “If I had been gone for even a minute, it could have resulted in death. I couldn’t do that.”
Dr. Abdul-Kader described the situation as heartbreaking and confirmed the need to get medical supplies to Gaza as quickly as possible.
“We work all day long with little rest. We have to find a way to continue as normal, it has never been this bad and it is affecting us and our patients. The reception hall is no longer accepting patients and is full. Hundreds of injured “Eighty percent of cases are women and children, many of whom are now untreatable,” he explained.
Dr Abdul said: “Contaminated water, expired food and lack of cleanliness in the hospital scare us. We have received dozens of cases of gastroenteritis, jaundice and bronchitis, especially in children. In These cases will haunt us long after the genocide is over.” – Qader concluded new arab.
Gaza has lost dozens of doctors and nurses over the course of Israel’s aggression, and many of the survivors have not suffered from mental and physical exhaustion that has left them unable to continue living.
Their patience and resistance are unparalleled, but if this war continues, these doctors may themselves collapse at some point.
Abubaker Abed is a Palestinian journalist, writer and translator from Deir al-Bala refugee camp in Gaza
Follow him on X: @abubakabedw