WHO: 20 of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip no longer in operation
Published: Friday, Nov 10th 2023, 12:30
العودة إلى البث المباشر
In the Gaza Strip, 20 of the 36 hospitals are no longer in operation due to heavy bombing, destruction and a lack of medical supplies. This was reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on Friday.
Even the hospitals that were still functioning were only running in emergency mode because many did not have enough disinfectants, anesthetic preparations or electricity to provide normal care to patients. Some of the hospitals that are still functioning have twice as many patients as beds, said WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris.
According to the report, the WHO received reports on Friday of intense fighting around the Shifa hospital. "However, we have no information on damage," said Harris. The Shifa hospital is the only one with a children's ward. There are children in intensive care and others who need dialysis. Any interruption to their care would be life-threatening for them.
Palestinian media and the terrorist organization Hamas reported on Friday that there was fighting near several hospitals, including in the area of the Shifa Hospital. The director of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Abu Salamija, spoke of "Israeli attacks" and "bombardments" on the hospital's buildings, where emergency cases were being treated and refugees had found refuge.
There were deaths and injuries. The reports could not initially be independently verified. Israel's army said it was checking the reports.
The Israeli military reported attacks in the Hamas "military district" near the Shifa clinic on Thursday. Soldiers fought with dozens of terrorists in the area, the statement continued. Tunnel shafts and rocket manufacturing factories had been destroyed there. According to the army, the area is "the heart of Hamas' intelligence and operational activities". The massacre on October 7 in the Israeli border area was also planned there. According to Israeli intelligence services, Hamas, which rules the coastal area, also uses the Shifa clinic as a command and control center. This information cannot currently be independently verified either.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish