WHO: Gaza Strip's Largest Medical Facility Emergency Room Is a 'Blood Bath'

Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, has barely resumed operations following an Israeli military operation, but it is confirmed to be operating under dire conditions.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 18th (local time), WHO and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) delivered medicines and surgical supplies to the hospital on the 16th and assessed the hospital's operational status.

Al-Shifa Hospital was the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip but was temporarily closed amid the armed conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas that has continued since October.

The Israeli military entered the hospital on the 15th of last month, believing that Hamas command facilities were located in the building's basement, rendering the hospital unable to receive patients.

As a result, incubators stopped operating, leading to the deaths of newborns, and critically ill patients whose treatments were halted also died, worsening the humanitarian crisis.

International relief organizations focused on transferring patients and medical staff from this hospital in northern Gaza to hospitals in southern Gaza.

When the Israeli military and Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire at the end of last month, Al-Shifa Hospital partially resumed operations. It began accepting kidney dialysis patients again, and according to WHO, about 70 people, including a small number of doctors, nurses, and volunteers, are currently caring for patients.

WHO appealed that while many injured people continue to flood into Al-Shifa Hospital, which has barely resumed operations, the operating conditions remain dire.

WHO explained, "Relief teams describe the hospital's emergency room as a 'bloodbath,'" adding, "There are hundreds of injured inside, and trauma patients are receiving sutures on the emergency room floor."

They continued, "The emergency room is so overcrowded that staff frequently warn not to step on patients lying on the floor," adding, "There is a shortage of fuel, emergency resuscitation oxygen, and blood for transfusions, so critically ill patients are being transferred to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital."

WHO stated that in addition to emergency patients, tens of thousands of displaced people are using the Al-Shifa Hospital building and grounds as a shelter, and a multifaceted humanitarian response is urgently needed to provide them with food, water, and places to rest.

Furthermore, WHO emphasized, "We will strive to ensure that Al-Shifa Hospital can provide at least basic services over the coming weeks," and added, "To reactivate the hospital's 20 operating rooms, supplies of fuel, oxygen, and medicines must be secured, and additional specialized medical personnel are needed."