2024-01-12 09:50:42
Published12. January 2024, 10:50
Israel-Hamas war: Gaza’s largest hospital partially resumes service
A team from the World Health Organization (WHO) agency found that the hospital was once again able to provide care.
AFP
The largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, hard hit by the war between Israel and Hamas, has managed to partially resume service, according to the WHO, which supplied it for the first time in two weeks. “A team from WHO and partners were able to reach al-Chifa hospital in northern Gaza today and deliver 9,300 liters of fuel as well as medical supplies, to treat 1,000 patients victims of trauma and 100 patients requiring dialysis,” announced Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), on the night of Thursday to Friday on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The United Nations agency team was able to see that the hospital was once again able to provide care thanks to a medical team of 60 people. Al-Chifa once again has 40 beds in surgery and general medicine, an emergency department and four operating rooms, detailed the head of the WHO, whose organization had made an apocalyptic description of the places in mid-December, with hundreds of wounded treated on the ground and, for the worst among them, a hazardous evacuation to another hospital. Dr. Tedros also indicated that al-Chifa once again had a basic gynecology-obstetrics and radiology service, limited hemodialysis capacity and “minimal” capabilities for analyses.
Increasing needs
“The partial resumption of services in al-Chifa means that fuel consumption is much higher and the need for medical supplies is increasing,” the WHO chief stressed, calling for regular and safe access to this hospital as to all health infrastructures in the region.
“We insist, once again, that health must be protected and never targeted or militarized”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The al-Chifa hospital, in the north of the Gaza Strip, found itself at the center of intense bombardments, then ground fighting, which marked the first weeks of the war launched against the Islamic movement Hamas by Israel. The Israeli army believed that al-Chifa was the main command center for Hamas operations in the Gaza Strip, something the Palestinian Islamist movement denies.
Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse, according to the WHO. The humanitarian situation in the territory is “indescribable” and the distribution of aid must face “almost insurmountable” obstacles, the WHO boss denounced again on Wednesday.
(afp)
1705058373
#Gazas #largest #hospital #partially #resumes #service