Health officials report that the Gaza hospital is in a “catastrophic situation” amidst intense fighting nearby 2023
Health officials and relief organizations are reporting that intense fighting close to Gaza’s largest hospital has left it in a “catastrophic situation,” with patients and staff trapped inside, ambulances unable to evacuate injured people, and life-support systems without electricity.
According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, the fighting around the largest hospital in Gaza “has not stopped,” with ongoing bombardment preventing evacuations and making it unsafe for ambulance rides.
The hospital is surrounded on all four sides by Israeli forces and is allegedly under “complete siege,” according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which reports that three newborn babies died after the hospital went “out of service” amid fierce fighting in the area.
While denying firing at the northern Gaza medical center and rejecting claims the hospital is under siege, the Israeli army told CNN it is involved in “ongoing intense fighting” with Hamas near the hospital complex. Israel has offered to help with evacuations and stated that it is in communication with hospital administrators.
Two of the infants at Al-Shifa Hospital perished overnight on Friday and Saturday, according to CNN, after a shell struck nearby and cut off the generator that was powering the neonatal ward’s incubators. Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Health Ministry, made this announcement. The next one died early on Saturday.
Global/Middle Eastern
Health officials report that the Gaza hospital is in a “catastrophic situation” amidst intense fighting nearby.
Written by Tamar Michaelis, Heather Chen, Jomana Karadsheh, Kareem Khadder, and Niamh Kennedy NBC
On Friday, people were seen outside the Al-Shifa hospital’s emergency room in Gaza City.
On Friday, people were seen outside the Al-Shifa Hospital’s emergency room in Gaza City.
AFP/Getty Images/Khader Al Zanoun
Health officials and relief organizations are reporting that intense fighting close to Gaza’s largest hospital has left it in a “catastrophic situation,” with patients and staff trapped inside, ambulances unable to evacuate injured people, and life-support systems without electricity.
According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, the fighting around the largest hospital in Gaza “has not stopped,” with ongoing bombardment preventing evacuations and making it unsafe for ambulance rides.
The hospital is surrounded on all four sides by Israeli forces and is allegedly under “complete siege,” according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which reports that three newborn babies died after the hospital went “out of service” amid fierce fighting in the area.
While denying firing at the northern Gaza medical center and rejecting claims the hospital is under siege, the Israeli army told CNN it is involved in “ongoing intense fighting” with Hamas near the hospital complex. Israel has offered to help with evacuations and stated that it is in communication with hospital administrators.
Two of the infants at Al-Shifa Hospital perished overnight on Friday and Saturday, according to CNN, after a shell struck nearby and cut off the generator that was powering the neonatal ward’s incubators. Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Health Ministry, made this announcement. The next one died early on Saturday.
On October 15, 2023, ambulances filled with Israeli strike victims swarm the entrance to the emergency ward of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. With Hamas militants in Gaza carrying out a vicious attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in over 1,400 Israeli deaths, Israel launched a withering air campaign against them. (Image courtesy of Dawood NEMER/AFP) Image courtesy of DAWOOD NEMER/AFP on Getty Images
“Please, just stop.” The weight of the war is causing Gaza’s hospitals to fail. US medical groups are rushing to provide assistance. According to Al-Bursh, doctors were compelled to manually perform artificial respiration on the other 36 infants under their care.
Later, he told CNN that the neonatal unit ran out of oxygen, so during the night, the babies were transferred to another area of the complex. According to him, the infants were transported without incubators and manually carried to the hospital’s operating rooms, where oxygen supplies are still operational.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesman for the ministry, claimed that after being the target of Israeli fire on multiple occasions, the complex in northern Gaza was “out of service,” leaving him trapped inside.
Al-Qidra stated, “The oxygen devices, pediatric department, and intensive care unit have stopped working.”
The medical charity MSF stated that it was unable to get in touch with any of the Al-Shifa Hospital employees who had reported a “catastrophic situation” there.
In a statement released on Saturday, the organization stated that “continuous bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating, and ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured.”
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that it had lost contact with contacts within the hospital and characterized the current state of affairs as “deeply worrisome and frightening.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a statement on Sunday that the organization “is gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital.”
111001A SEG2 cnni world_00021406.png is an image from the Save the Children website.
A hospital in Gaza is “surrounded by tanks,” and other medical facilities claim Israeli strikes have damaged them.
Early on Sunday, the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is under the control of Hamas, announced that shelling was occurring near the Al-Shifa Hospital, putting patients and internally displaced people in danger.
While military activity was still in progress, the Israeli army declined to comment further on its forces’ proximity to the complex, telling CNN that it was involved in “ongoing intense fighting” with Hamas near the hospital. It has, however, refuted allegations that it was under siege or firing at the hospital.
In the past, the IDF has declared that it will strike Hamas “wherever necessary” and that Hamas is integrating itself into civilian infrastructure.
“There is no shooting at the hospital, and there is no siege,” stated Colonel Moshe Tetro, a senior official in the Israeli Defense Ministry. “The hospital’s East Side is still open. Tetro stated in a statement that “[the military] can also coordinate with anyone who wants to leave the hospital safely.”
The military announced on Saturday at an IDF press briefing that it would assist with the Sunday baby evacuation from the hospital’s pediatric unit. “The Shifa Hospital staff has asked that we assist the infants in the pediatric department in moving to a safer hospital tomorrow. We’ll offer the support that’s required,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari declared.
Israel’s response to the surprise Hamas attacks that claimed 1,200 lives included stepping up its offensive inside Gaza.
Since then, over 11,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza, a region that is already extremely poor and crowded, according to Palestinian health officials. The attack has led to increasing alerts regarding Gaza’s medical situation.
Robert Mardini, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), expressed the organization’s shock and horror at the photos and information that came from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
“The incredibly hopeless circumstances that ensnared the patients and staff inside must end. Mardini stated in a post on X, “Now.”
Al-Shifa Hospital is still under “complete siege,” making it impossible for staff or patients to leave, according to a representative of the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
Personnel and patients confined
Al-Bursh from the ministry of health declared that Al-Shifa Hospital was under a “total siege,” making it impossible for patients or staff to flee.
Al-Bursh claims that there are still over 400 patients receiving care at the hospital and that there are about 20,000 displaced people looking for housing within the hospital complex.
He told CNN that inside the hospital complex, there were over a hundred bodies on the ground covered in blankets.
He said over the phone to CNN, “We can’t bury them.” As he spoke, the sound of explosions could be heard.
Mustafa Sarsour, a freelance journalist based at the hospital, told CNN that the conditions within are appalling.
“The situation is grave and extremely challenging. Sarsour said that after a lull in the shelling this afternoon, “the shelling and gunfire resumed, heavily targeting anything that moves,” adding that the facility’s medics were operating by candlelight and that both doctors’ and patients’ supplies of food were running low.
Al-Bursh stated that because Al-Shifa was unreachable, injured individuals were instead being taken to the Al-Ahli Hospital.
Concerned parties have been raising alarms regarding the circumstances at Al-Shifa Hospital. The Norwegian Refugee Council’s Middle East director, Angelita Caredda, expressed her horror at the reports of “relentless attacks on Gaza’s hospitals” in a statement.
“Citizens seeking aid and patients, including infants, are encircled and under attack. “Waging war on and around hospitals is an affront,” the woman stated.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Martin Griffiths, the director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, denounced attacks on medical facilities, stating that “there can be no justification for acts of war in health care facilities.”
People who use and work in Gaza’s healthcare facilities, according to Griffiths, “must trust that they are places of shelter and not of war.”
Amidst the “deeply worrying” situation in Al-Shifa, UNICEF, the UN agency in charge of providing humanitarian aid to children, called for the protection of Gaza hospitals.
It also demanded that the Gaza Strip immediately enter a cease-fire. UNICEF said in a statement issued early on Sunday that “premature babies are dying in incubators, and Al Shifa hospital in Gaza is without power.”
The fighting has spread to other hospitals.
According to a statement from the prime minister of Jordan, the air force used parachutes early on Sunday to airdrop medical supplies to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza. This month, the nation has dropped aid packages into the air twice.
In order to “enhance and develop the hospital’s capabilities and increase the ability of medical personnel to provide health and treatment services to alleviate the burden of the people in the Gaza Strip,” the relief effort was carried out in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, according to a statement.
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