“If we do not immediately stop this carnage through a ceasefire or at least the evacuation of patients, the hospital will turn into a morgue,” the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a statement on Sunday.
The hospital al-Shifa in Gaza City is “completely surrounded” and shelling is going on nearby, according to the head of the hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
– The medical teams cannot work, and the dozens of bodies cannot be buried or taken care of, he says.
Even the World Health Organization WHO expresses “deep concern” about the situation at al-Shifa hospital, says WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Surgeon Mohammad Obayd from MSF says there is a lack of water, food, electricity and internet connection. The hospital has around 600 patients recovering from surgery, 17 patients in intensive care and up to 40 children, he says. A large number of people have also sought shelter at the hospital.
Violent battles
According to Mohammad Obayd, four patients inside the hospital have also been shot by snipers. One is said to have been hit in the neck and one in the abdomen. People who tried to flee the hospital area in order to find their way south have also been shot at, he states.
Witnesses from inside the hospital say “violent fighting” has been going on around the area throughout the night. Health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza also state that an Israeli attack has destroyed the entire heart department at the hospital.
Two premature babies who received intensive care are said to have died yesterday as a result of power cuts, and more are at risk.
Israel’s military announced on Saturday that it will assist in the evacuation of toddlers from the hospital.
Israel denies
The claim that the fire against the hospital comes exclusively from the Israeli side has not been confirmed by independent sources. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli army, states that soldiers are “in the middle of fighting” with the terrorist organization Hamas near the hospital, but that everything is being done to avoid civilian casualties.
20 of the total of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip have ceased to function, according to the UN’s coordination body OCHA. A hospital in northern Gaza says it is operating at only 30 to 40 percent of its usual capacity.
Israel has denied that hospitals are being targeted in the war, but accuses Hamas of using them as command centers and hideouts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds Hamas responsible for all civilian casualties and injuries. On Saturday, he also repeated earlier demands that the nearly 240 people taken hostage by Hamas must be released for a ceasefire to come into question.