WHO Plans More Evacuations from Gaza Hospital as Bodies Buried on Grounds
Aid Agencies Strive to Evacuate Patients from Gaza’s Nasser Hospital
Aid agencies are working tirelessly to evacuate approximately 140 patients stranded in Gaza’s Nasser hospital, a crucial facility for the territory’s health services. The World Health Organization (WHO) officials hope to transfer the patients to other hospitals in the south, including field hospitals established in Rafah. This mission is challenging and high-risk due to the ongoing conflict.
Israeli Troops Withdraw and Storm Gaza Hospital Again
Israeli forces had withdrawn from the hospital, positioning themselves nearby and preventing movement to and from it before storming it once more, the Gaza health ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Israel. The number of patients remaining in Nasser hospital had been changing by the hour as some people left to escape the fighting and others succumbed to their wounds.
Lack of Essential Facilities at Nasser Hospital
Gaza’s health ministry reported that the hospital faced a severe lack of power, oxygen, food, drinking water, and medical supplies. The ground floors were also flooded with sewage water, exacerbating the dire situation. Medical teams had to bury 13 patients on the hospital grounds due to the lack of essential facilities.
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
Four-and-a-half months after Israel began its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for a major Hamas attack, the population of 2.3 million people faces acute hunger and the spread of disease in a humanitarian crisis that aid officials describe as unprecedented. Most Gaza residents have been displaced and are crammed into the south of the strip around Rafah, close to the border with Egypt.
Challenges Faced by Medical Staff
When the WHO carried out the evacuations so far, it observed four doctors and nurses at Nasser hospital along with about a dozen volunteers helping medical staff keep patients alive. Staff had not yet managed to reconnect the main generator. The Gaza health ministry said that eight patients at Nasser had died due to the lack of power and oxygen four days previously and that their bodies had begun to decompose, posing a risk to other patients.
Allegations of Hospital Misuse
Israel alleges that Hamas uses hospitals for cover, while Hamas denies this and claims that Israel’s allegations serve as a pretext to destroy the healthcare system.
