1000’s of persons are holed up in Gaza’s largest hospital, which Israel claims is a Hamas command centre.
Israel’s army has closed in on the entrance gates of Gaza’s largest hospital, the place hundreds of injured and displaced persons are trapped amid intensive Israeli bombardment.
Israeli forces had totally encircled the al-Shifa Hospital as of early on Saturday morning, stopping ambulances from coming into or leaving the power, the place medical provides and meals are operating low.
“They are attacking and destroying the front gates of the main medical complex in the Gaza Strip as patients and thousands of Palestinians are still residing inside the yard of this hospital,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum mentioned.
“Those people are really trapped right now by Israeli forces who are stationed in different sectors encircling the entire place. They are no longer able to move ambulances to bring victims and wounded people from the areas targeted. People are trapped and they lack food.”
Abu Azzoum mentioned that Israeli snipers and artillery have been additionally concentrating on anybody transferring outdoors the hospital.
Al-Shifa director Muhammad Abu Salmiya described the realm across the hospital as a “battlefield”, however mentioned the hospital’s workers have pledged to stick with sufferers till the “last moment”.
“We will not leave, because we know if we leave the hospital, dozens of patients will die,” Abu Salmiya advised Al Jazeera.
The escalating bombardment comes after an Israeli strike on the al-Shifa Hospital early on Friday killed at the least 13 folks and wounded a number of others, based on the Well being Ministry within the Hamas-governed enclave.
Well being officers mentioned in a while Friday that Israeli tanks have been closing in on at the least 4 hospitals in northern Gaza from all instructions.
As preventing escalated on Friday night time, Marwan Jilani, director normal of the Palestine Crimson Crescent Society, condemned Israel for attacking hospitals on the UN Safety Council in New York.
“Displaced people at the hospitals are getting shot at as we speak,” Jilani mentioned.
“They are asking, ‘What can we do? Where can we go?’ Thousands of innocent lives are under imminent threat.”
World Well being Group (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed his considerations, saying he was “extremely disturbed” by the scenario on the al-Shifa Hospital.
“Many of the thousands sheltering at the hospital are forced to evacuate due to security risks, while many still remain there,” he posted on X, previously often known as Twitter.
“WHO is very concerned about the safety of patients, health workers and those sheltering in hospitals. They need immediate protection.”
We’re extraordinarily disturbed by studies of airstrikes within the neighborhood of Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza. Many well being employees we have been in touch with have been compelled to depart the hospital looking for security. Others report being unable to maneuver because of grave insecurity. Lots of the…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 10, 2023
Israel has claimed the hospital is utilized by Hamas as a command centre, which each the al-Shifa workers and the armed group have denied.
The realm round al-Shifa has been bombed at the least 5 instances since Thursday, based on Gaza well being officers, whereas Israeli forces have additionally struck al-Nasr Medical Centre, al-Quds Hospital and al-Rantisi Hospital.
The WHO has confirmed that half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are usually not functioning and two-thirds of its major care amenities are out of fee amid the preventing.
At the very least 11,078 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults on Gaza for the reason that begin of the Israel-Hamas struggle, based on Palestinian well being officers.
Greater than 1,200 folks, largely civilians, have been killed by Hamas within the armed group’s shock assaults on Israel on October 7, based on Israeli officers.