The World Health Organization announced on Saturday that Israel’s recent siege had left Gaza’s largest hospital in ruins, transforming it into an “empty shell” with numerous casualties.
Following a two-week military operation, Israeli forces withdrew from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday, where they had engaged in combat with Palestinian militants within the territory’s key medical facility. Despite several unsuccessful attempts since March 25, a mission led by WHO managed to gain access to the hospital on Friday, revealing the extensive devastation.
“WHO and partners managed to reach Al-Shifa — once the backbone of the health system in Gaza, which is now an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege,” agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He said the team had seen “at least five dead bodies during the mission”.
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They had also found that “most of the buildings in the hospital complex are extensively destroyed and the majority of assets damaged or reduced to ashes”, the WHO chief said.
“Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible,” he said, adding that “an in-depth assessment by a team of engineers is needed to determine if the remaining buildings are safe for future use”
Tedros expressed sorrow over the setback, stating that the endeavors by WHO and other humanitarian organizations to restore essential services at Al-Shifa following Israel’s initial destructive assault on the hospital last year “are now lost, and people are once again deprived of access to lifesaving health care services”.
Of Gaza’s 36 primary hospitals, just 10 remain somewhat practical, as per WHO. The Gaza war started on October 7 with an assault by Hamas aggressors bringing about the demise of 1,170 individuals in southern Israel, generally regular citizens, as per an AFP toll from official Israeli figures. Palestinian assailants additionally took around 250 prisoners, around 130 of whom stay in Gaza. The military says that more than 30 are dead.
Tedros said urgent action was needed in Gaza as “famine looms, disease outbreaks spread and trauma injuries increase”. He called for the “protection of remaining health facilities in Gaza (and) protection of health and humanitarian workers”. The WHO chief demanded “unimpeded access of humanitarian aid into and across the Gaza Strip” and a “ceasefire”.
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