Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on his X (Twitter) account on November 12, “WHO has managed to get in touch with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza."
According to the WHO official, “The situation is dire and perilous. It's been 3 days without electricity, without water and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care.”
He added, “The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances. Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly.”
He concluded, “Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore. The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair. Ceasefire. NOW.”
Several hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza have been “directly hit” as the Israeli regime intensifies attacks around hospitals, the UN says. There are fears for hundreds of patients, including 37 premature babies in al-Shifa Hospital, as electricity fails in multiple hospitals, Al-Jazeera reported.
A health official says an Israeli air attack has destroyed the cardiac ward of Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, as fighting around the facility raged.
“The occupier [Israel] completely destroyed the cardiac department of al-Shifa Hospital… The two-storey building has been completely destroyed in an air strike,” Yousef Abu al-Rish, deputy health minister in Gaza, told AFP.
The war on Gaza started after the territory's Resistance movements waged a surprise attack against the occupying entity, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, in response to its decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Over 11,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli aerial and ground attacks so far.
It has also imposed a complete siege on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to more than two million Palestinians living there.
SD/IRN