The Palestinian Red Crescent Society released a statement on Thursday, stating that because of the fierce fighting in the area, medical personnel confined to Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital are unable to treat patients outside.
According to the NGO that offers medical and humanitarian aid, ambulance staff are able to hear gunfire and explosions from inside the hospital.
“There are a number of martyrs and wounded in the hospital courtyard, about 30 meters (98.43 feet) away, that our teams are unable to reach,” said the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced late on Wednesday that Al-Ahli is the sole functioning hospital in northern Gaza that is able to accept patients.
One of the hospital’s British-Palestinian surgeons said on Thursday that the hospital is no longer able to conduct surgeries.
“The hospital is now effectively a first aid station,” said Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah.
“Hundreds of wounded people are at the hospital with no access to surgery,” added Abu-Sittah
“They will die from their wounds,” he continued.
“The lack of medical supplies at the Al-Shifa Hospital is forcing staff to make “harrowing” decisions,” said the facility’s director, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiyah in media reports.
Due to a shortage of resources, doctors have been forced to amputate patients’ limbs in order to stop the spread of infection from untreated wounds, and there is no medication available for children who are vomiting and having diarrhea.
“A precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital has began,” said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in an online post.
“Explosions are shaking the buildings of Al-Shifa Hospital … which is besieged from all four directions, following the launching of rocket and artillery shells in the vicinity of the hospital,” said in Khader Al-Za’anoun in a text message.
“Israeli forces had invaded the hospital with large numbers of soldiers and military vehicles, including tanks, armored vehicles, troop carriers, and bulldozers and they were preventing anyone from leaving,” he added.
“We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives and safety of medical personnel, the wounded, the sick, premature children, and the displaced,” said Hamas’ government media office claiming that the Israeli forces is in control of the that Al-Shifa hospital.
