- Nine health centers in Gaza are only partly working.
- WHO: Dead bodies are stacked in the hallway of Al-Ahli Hospital
The World Health Organization said Thursday that there isn’t a hospital in northern Gaza that can work because there isn’t enough fuel, staff, or supplies.
The WHO says that in all of Gaza, only nine of the 36 health facilities were partly fully operational. All of these sites are in the south of the enclave.
“There are no hospitals that work left in the north,” Richard Peeperkorn, WHO’s director in Gaza, told reporters from Jerusalem through a video link.
“Al-Ahli Hospital was the last one, but it’s only barely working now—it’s still treating patients but not taking in any new ones.”
Using the phrase “shell of a hospital,” Peeperkorn said that Al-Ahli was like a hospice that only offered basic care. He said that only a few basic first aid, pain management, and wound care supplies are still being used by about 10 staff members, all of whom are young doctors and nurses.
“Until two days ago, it was the only hospital in northern Gaza where hurt people could get surgery, and it was full of people who needed emergency care,” he said.
“There are no operating rooms left because there is a lack of fuel, electricity, medical supplies, and health workers, such as surgeons and other specialists.”
He said that the bodies of people killed in recent Israeli attacks were stacked in the courtyard of the hospital because they could not be buried safely and with honor.
Along with Al-Ahli Hospital, northern Gaza only had three other hospitals that barely worked: Al-Shifa, Al Awda, and Al Sahaba. Peeperkorn said that these hospitals were housing thousands of people who had to leave their homes.
Some people at Al-Ahli had to wait weeks for surgeries, and even if they had been operated on, they could get an illness afterward because there weren’t enough antibiotics and other drugs, he said.
A humanitarian ceasefire was called for again by the WHO. “All of these patients cannot move and need to be transferred urgently to have a chance to survive,” he said.
“This is needed right now to strengthen and restock the remaining hospitals, get medical care to the thousands of people who have been hurt and need other basic care, and most importantly, to stop the killing and bloodshed.”
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