Al Shifa and Al-Quds Hospitals Stop Operations Due to Israeli Attacks, WHO Director General: Tragic

Evacuation of children to hospital due to Israeli attacks. (Wikimedia Commons/Palestinian News & Information Agency (Wafa) in contact with APAimages)

JAKARTA - The head of the UN health agency regrets the increase in the death toll and the cessation of hospital operations in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, due to Israeli attacks, exacerbated by shortages of fuel and medicine.

Two hospitals in northern Gaza were closed to new patients on Sunday, unable to treat any more patients inside due to the Israeli blockade, medical staff said.

Meanwhile, the Israelis said they were hunting Palestinian Hamas militants in the area, ordering the hospital to be evacuated.

Gaza's second and largest hospitals, Al Shifa and Al-Quds, said they had stopped operations. As the number of dead and injured rises every day, but half of the region's hospitals are not functioning, there are fewer and fewer places to treat the victims.

"My child is injured and there is no hospital I can take him to so he can get stitches," said Ahmed al-Kahlout, who fled south because he feared there was no safe place in Gaza, as reported by Reuters, November 13.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his party had succeeded in restoring communication with health professionals at Al-Shifa Hospital, but added that the situation was dire and dangerous due to constant gunfire and bombings which worsened the crisis.

"Tragically, the number of patient deaths has increased significantly, wrote Dr. Tedros in a post on X.

"Unfortunately, the hospital no longer functions as a hospital," he continued.

Meanwhile, a plastic surgeon at Al Shifa Hospital said the bombing of the incubator building had forced them to line up premature babies in regular beds, using what little power was available to heat the air conditioning.

"We expect to lose more of them day by day," said Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati.

Separately, the Palestinian Red Crescent said the Al-Quds hospital was also not functioning as its staff struggled to treat those already there with limited medicines, food, and water.

"Al Quds Hospital has been cut off from the world for the last six to seven days. There is no way in, no way out," explained Tommaso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Three UN agencies expressed horror at the situation at the hospital, saying in 36 days they had recorded at least 137 attacks on health facilities, resulting in 521 deaths and 686 injuries, including the death of 16 medics and 38 others injured.

“The world cannot stand idly by when hospitals, which should be safe havens, turn into places of death, destruction, and despair,” he criticized, noting that half of Gaza's hospitals are now closed.

It is known that Israel accused Hamas of placing command centers under and near hospitals. On the other hand, Hamas denies using hospitals in such a way.

On Sunday, a Palestinian official briefed on hostage release talks said Hamas had postponed negotiations because of Israel's handling of Al-Shifa Hospital.