The largest hospital in the Gaza Strip was left without electricity due to a lack of fuel to run the generators, the Ministry of Health of the enclave governed by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas reported today, while Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described it as ” catastrophic” the situation in that health center attacked by Israel.
“This is the moment we had been warning the world about,” said the Strip’s Deputy Health Minister, Yusef Abu Alreesh, referring to the situation at the Al Shifa hospital in statements to the Qatari news network Al Jazeera.
The complex is completely under siege, keeping numerous people trapped inside, and the future of the patients is uncertain, including 39 babies in incubators, the official said.
The director of the institution, Muhamad Abu Salmiya, also confirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera that in the last few hours a baby who was in an incubator and a young man admitted to intensive care died.
Without the possibility of contact with the outside world, “we are several minutes away from death,” he lamented in statements reproduced by the Europa Press news agency.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry, families tried to leave the hospital, but were shot, so their bodies were left nearby, with no possibility of anyone recovering them due to the presence of snipers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). .
The Palestinian Red Crescent indicated yesterday that snipers also fired on the Al Quds hospital, leaving at least one dead.
Israel, for its part, stated that it will not hesitate to “kill” Hamas commandos who shoot from medical centers.
“If we see terrorists shooting from hospitals, we will do what we have to do (…), we will kill them,” said Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht, who also recognized the “sensitive” nature of this type of operations.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals to launch attacks and hide its tunnels, which the movement denies, stating that it is willing to receive “an international team” to investigate.
MSF staff in Gaza assured that the situation at the Al Shifa hospital became “catastrophic” in recent hours and denounced that the attacks “intensified dramatically” while “the patients remain” hospitalized.
“Some are in critical condition and unable to move. There is a patient who needs surgery,” the NGO explained on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
As a result of the offensive, MSF lost contact with its workers in the area: “We are currently unable to communicate with any of our staff within Al Shifa and we are extremely concerned for the safety of patients and medical staff.”
The organization used its statement to reiterate its calls to “stop attacks on hospitals and protect medical facilities, medical staff and patients.”
This new request joins that of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which had previously also made an urgent call to respect health facilities in the Gaza Strip after the latest bombings that hit hospitals, warning that what is at stake the lives of thousands of people.
Yesterday, at least thirteen people were killed and several were injured due to a new bombardment by Israeli forces near the Al Shifa hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of people also sought refuge after being displaced from their homes. homes because of the attacks.
Israel promised to destroy Hamas after that group launched an incursion from Gaza on October 7, in which 1,200 people died, according to the latest balance sheet that updated the figure to 1,400, and captured some 240 hostages, including twenty with Argentina Nationality.
Israel’s attacks in turn left more than 11,000 dead, including some 4,500 children, according to the movement that governs the Gaza Strip.
Source: Ambito
