“Desperate Death Zone”: WHO Warns The Condition of Gaza’s Major Hospital (Image:Twitter/UNRWA)
The inside condition of Gaza’s major hospital Al Shifa turned out as a “death zone” and the situation was “desperate”, warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday, as Israel-Palestine war is approaching its third month. The United Nations health organization conducted a high-risk assessment operation in the hospital on Saturday and released a detailed a report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside and around the hospital on Sunday early morning.
Israel had already sketched the hospital as a crucial target, arguing medical facilities are the major hideout points of Hamas. The regime continues bombarding the surroundings of the hospital and the facility is experiencing a severe blockade from essential aids such as food, water, fuel, and communication. A strong spread of highly serious pandemic has also predicted by the WHO as sewage facilities and waste management are in a desperate state.
According to WHO, the Saturday mission was a “high-risk” joint venture led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the WHO. It was deconflicted by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
WHO leads very high-risk joint humanitarian mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in #Gaza
Earlier today, a joint UN humanitarian assessment team, led by WHO, accessed Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza to assess the situation on the ground, conduct a rapid situational analysis, assess… pic.twitter.com/93uIdy8PVA
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) November 18, 2023
Al-Shifa is located in the northern Gaza and the region belongs to an active conflict zone with heavy fighting ongoing. The UN mission was to assess the ground situation and to conduct a rapid situational analysis including medical priorities and options for future missions. The team included public health experts, logistics officers, and security staff from various UN organisations and were time constrained. They were allowed to spend only an hour inside the hospital, which they described as a “death zone” and the situation as “desperate.”
What welcomed the team was a grave, right at the entrance of Al Shifa, where more than 80 were buried. The hospital was once the largest and most advanced in Gaza but now under drastic lack of clean water, fuel, food, medicines and other essential aids. And this eventually turned the hospital out of functioning. “Due to the security situation, it has been impossible for the staff to carry out effective waste management in the hospital”.
Today @WHO led a very high risk @UN assessment mission to Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza.
The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, medical supplies depleted.
Given this deplorable situation and the condition of many patients,…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 18, 2023
Corridors of the hospital, according to the statement, were filled with waste and increases risk of infection. People inside are terrified and demanded immediate evacuation. Only 25 health workers and 291 patients are remaining as several died because of medical service blockade. “Patients include 32 babies in extremely critical condition, two people in intensive care without ventilation, and 22 dialysis patients whose access to life-saving treatment has been severely compromised”.
The hospital is no longer operational and the WHO pleas for a collective effort to end the hostilities and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. “We call for an immediate ceasefire, the sustained flow of humanitarian assistance at scale, unhindered humanitarian access to all of those in need, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the cessation of attacks on health care and other vital infrastructure”, added the statement.
