The WHO has warned that there are still more than 180 patients inside the Nasser Hospital, amid a critical shortage of food, basic medical supplies and oxygen.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have finally been allowed inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, after two days of being denied entry.
According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, this allowed for the assessment and “lifesaving medical referrals of 14 critical patients.”
“Two patients needed continuous manual ventilation throughout their journey,” Ghebreyesus said on X on Monday.
He stressed that “9 patients are now receiving care in the European Gaza, International Medical Corps, UAE and Indonesia field hospitals, and 5 patients are in Al-Aqsa hospital.”
After two days of being denied entry into the Nasser Medical Complex in #Gaza, yesterday @WHO and partners were allowed to go inside to assess the patients. As a result, lifesaving medical referral of 14 critical patients was facilitated. Two patients needed continuous manual… pic.twitter.com/7iS65vG61y
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 19, 2024
“There are still more than 180 patients and 15 doctors and nurses inside Nasser,” he added.
The hospital is still experiencing an acute shortage of food, basic medical supplies, and oxygen, the WHO Chief said.
“There is no tap water and no electricity, except a backup generator maintaining some lifesaving machines,” he warned.
Ghebreyesus said the WHO, Palestine Red Crescent Society, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and other partners “need sustained and safe access to continue lifesaving referrals for all patients in need of urgent care.”
In a video shared by the WHO on X, a trauma surgeon with the organization pointed out the Limb Reconstruction Unit in the hospital, now in darkness and not operational.
Dialysis, Intensive Care Patients Dying – What is Happening at Nasser Hospital
“This place used to reconstruct limbs of patients that otherwise would be amputated. Now this place is no longer operational,” said Dr Athanasios Gargavanis.
“There are still patients left in Nasser Medical Complex, but nobody in their ICU,” he said.
On February 15, the Israeli army announced the launch of an operation at Nasser Hospital claiming that ‘terrorists’ were holed up inside.
It was not the first time that Israel has bombed or raided hospitals based on similar allegations.
At least 70 hospital employees had been detained by Israeli troops while patients were ordered to evacuate, according to Al-Jazeera.
Some of them left the hospital, while others, including those on dialysis and in intensive care, had to stay. At least four of them died after power and oxygen supplies had been shut down, and the lives of six others, including three children, were in danger.
On Sunday, Ghebreyesus had announced that Nasser Hospital was no longer functional, stressing the urgent need for access to patients and medical facilities.
“Nasser hospital in Gaza is not functional anymore, after a weeklong siege followed by the ongoing raid,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X.
‘Not Functional Anymore’ – WHO Director Decries Israel’s Siege of Nasser Hospital
Gaza Death Toll
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 29,092 Palestinians have been killed, and 69,028 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
(Palestine Chronicle)
Another black mark to chalk up against Israel. Another to go on the list of things making up the genocide case against Israel – if they don’t respect hospitals, they sure as eggs won’t respect civilians’ lives. And that makes the difference between “collateral damage” and deliberate targeting. And deliberate targeting makes it genocide.
from the river to the sea, Israel can go f#ck off!