According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City “is not functioning as a hospital anymore.” Currently, over 2,000 people are in Al-Shifa, including patients, medical staff, and displaced people, says Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.Â
In an update on Sunday, the UN confirmed that three nurses at Al-Shifa Hospital were reportedly killed in ‘bombardments and armed clashes,’ which have been escalating around the hospital in recent days.
They stated that the ‘heavy fighting’ resulted in the destruction of critical infrastructure, including an oxygen-generation facility, water tanks, the cardiovascular facility, and the maternity ward.
Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City have expressed concern that the 36 remaining newborns requiring intensive care treatment may be at risk of dying. In urgent efforts to sustain the lives of the premature babies at Gaza’s largest hospital, they are being wrapped in foil and placed beside warm water.
While the Israeli army released a video showing soldiers leaving 15 jerry cans of fuel on the street for the hospital, they claim that Hamas prevented it from being retrieved.
However, doctors said that the provided fuel wouldn’t sustain power for an hour, and the evacuation of the babies would require specialized mobile incubators. However, because of the continual fighting, evacuation routes are too volatile to make a pass to the Rafah border.
According to the Israeli military, Hamas was operating an underground command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital; however, Hamas denies these allegations.
Based on Friday reports by the UNRWA, the relief agency for Palestinian refugees, more than 100 of its staff have died in Gaza since the Israeli retaliatory attacks began.
“This is the highest number of aid workers killed in the history of our organization in such a short time,” said Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN in Geneva.
As the conflict escalates, leading to more civilian casualties in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the UN’s accusations of collective punishment against Palestinians. He referred to the civilian deaths as collateral damage in Israel’s fight against terrorism.
The Israeli army released an update on its ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip, stating it has conducted 4,300 airstrikes and hit “3,000 terrorist infrastructure sites” in its fight against Hamas.
On Sunday, the EU’s 27 countries demanded “immediate humanitarian pauses” and condemned Hamas for using medical facilities and civilians as “human shields.”
