2023-10-11 21:59:21
In the Gaza Strip, bombed by Israel after a Hamas offensive on Saturday, the Al Shifa hospital is full of wounded. Entire families arrive one after another and the staff is overwhelmed. “The situation is catastrophic,” warn local authorities.
Akram Al Haddad, 25, stands at the bedside of his one-and-a-half-year-old nephew, wounded in an Israeli bombing that killed his four-year-old brother and 16 others.
The baby survived with his parents, also wounded in the attack that destroyed the family home in southeastern Gaza, Akram says.
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But “he needs urgent surgery for his head injury,” explains his doctor. The problem is that “you have to wait for an operating room to become available.”
“We work in exceptional circumstances (…) and we must guarantee continuous electrical power and the availability of the necessary material before proceeding with any surgical operation,” explains the doctor who is caring for him, who asked to be identified only by his first name. stack, Abdullah.
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Since Saturday, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, in response to an offensive of unprecedented magnitude by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
In total and according to a provisional balance, 765 people were killed and 4,000 injured on the Palestinian side, according to local authorities.
In that hospital, “many” people wait their turn in the emergency room. But “some die before” being treated, Abdallah laments.
“We treat many wounded people, mostly women and children who arrive at the same time,” emergency doctor Mohammad Ghoneim tells AFP, interrupted by the arrival of new wounded: three women, two children, an elderly man and two young people.
“The limited capacity (of the hospital) aggravates the number of victims,” he adds. The doctor laments the lack of medical supplies added to the lack of electricity, water and oxygen.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on Monday the imposition of a “complete blockade” on the Gaza Strip.
“No electricity, no food, no water,” he said.
“There is nowhere to go”
In her hospital bed, Um Rama al Hassasna, is surrounded by her four children, ages three to six. All were injured in an Israeli bombardment that hit a house in northern Gaza.
“I was injured as well as my children. They brought us here, we hope to be cared for,” says the woman.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned that the lack of medical supplies will lead to a “catastrophic situation” in the Palestinian enclave where 2.3 million people live poorly.
Eight hospitals “are not enough to respond to the needs of citizens,” he said.
Israeli bombing damaged the Beit Hanoun hospital in the north, as well as the neonatal medicine service at Al Chifa hospital.
In context: Civilians bear the brunt of war between Israel and Hamas
Salameh Maarouf, director of the press office of the Hamas-led government, laments that “taking into account the large number of wounded,” Gaza lacks “medicines, medical supplies, scanners and x-ray machines.
The official accuses “the (Israeli) occupation of deliberately creating a miserable humanitarian situation through restrictions or aggression.”
Many families left homeless have found refuge in the corridors of the Al Chifa hospital and in its gardens. After being treated, several have nowhere to go.
“My house was completely destroyed (…) All the houses were destroyed here,” says Abu Ashour Sukayk, 39 years old.
“It was a dark night for me, my wife and my children.”
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