Gaza’s largest hospital, which has been hit multiple times by Israel, has partially reestablish services, the World Health Organization said Friday after reaching the facility for the first time in over two weeks.
The UN health agency said it and partners had reached the Al-Shifa hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, delivering desperately-needed fuel and medical supplies.
The hospital, which WHO described as “a death zone” after it largely ceased operations following raids and occupation by Israeli troops in November, now has 60 medical staff, Tedros said.
It also has “a surgical and medical ward with 40 beds, an emergency department, four operating theatres, basic emergency obstetric and gynecologic services.”
The WHO-led convoy to the hospital on Thursday had delivered 9,300 liters (2,500 gallons) of fuel and medical supplies to cover 1,000 trauma and 100 kidney dialysis patients, according to his post.
The agency had been striving for more than two weeks to reach Al-Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza, and said earlier this week it had to cancel six planned missions there due to lacking security.
Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the war erupted.
The Israeli military claims Hamas has tunnels under hospitals and uses the medical facilities as command centers, a charge denied by the militant group and several UN organizations.
Israel has launched a relentless military campaign has killed at least 23,469 people, mostly women and children.
WHO said this week that only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially functioning, most of them in the south.
The agency has long described desperate scenes in the few barely functioning hospitals remaining in the north, facing severe shortages of food, clean water, medicines and fuel
While the partial resumption of services at Al-Shifa was good news, Tedros emphasized that it meant “the consumption of fuel is much higher, and the need for medical supplies is increasing.
(Reuters)
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