[ad_1]
GAZA: Palestinians seeking refuge at Gaza’s largest hospital and staff said they were trapped in increasingly horrific conditions Saturday (Nov 11), with two premature infants dying due to lack of electricity as heavy fighting raged nearby.
The Israeli military has denied there is a siege at Al-Shifa hospital, and has repeatedly accused Hamas of using medical facilities as command centres and hideouts – a charge the Palestinian militant group denies.
The gun battles and intense bombardment around the compound came as Israel pressed deep into Gaza City in its offensive aimed at destroying the militants on the territory they rule.
“Shooting is never stopping, airstrikes are unabated as well as artillery shells,” said a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There are dozens of bodies around the complex that nobody can reach.”
Though tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting, many have taken shelter in northern Gaza’s hospitals which have been repeatedly hit by explosive strikes and gunfire.
“The hospital is besieged, with no option to bring in the corpses and injured people sprawled outside. There is no movement in or out of the hospital,” said Physicians for Human Rights Israel, citing doctors at Al-Shifa.
The Israeli doctors’ group added that due to the lack of electricity, the neonatal intensive care unit has stopped working and two premature infants have died – leaving the lives of 37 other infants at risk.
“The situation in Al-Shifa is truly catastrophic,” said Ann Taylor, head of the Palestinian Territories mission for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
“It’s totally a war zone, it’s a totally scary atmosphere here in the hospital,” Ahmed al-Mokhallalati, a senior plastic surgeon at Al Shifa hospital, told Reuters.
“It’s continuous bombardment for more than 24 hours now, nothing stopped, you know, it’s all from the tanks, from the street, from the air strike.”
Most of the hospital staff and people sheltering at the hospital had left, he said, but 500 patients were still there.
The Israeli military denied endangering the hospital.
“There are clashes between IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops and Hamas terrorist operatives around the hospital. There is no shooting at the hospital and there is no siege,” said Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of coordination and liaison at COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body handling civil affairs in Gaza.
Tetro said he was in constant contact with the hospital’s director. “I told him several times: we can coordinate for anyone who wants to leave the hospital safely.”
Hamas fighters poured through the militarised border with Israel on Oct 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 people hostage, according to the most recent Israeli figures.
The Gaza health ministry says Israeli fighting has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians and thousands of them children.
[ad_2]
Source link