The acting director of Al Auda Hospital, one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, said the sound of bombs was ringing around him, terrified patients huddled away from windows, fuel was running out and clean water was gone. He said he was grappling with an eerie feeling of déjà vu. See.
“No one can move, no one can get near the windows,” said acting director Dr. Mohammed Saha. In December, during the 18-day siege of Al Awda, three medical staff were shot through windows.
Dr. Saha said some 150 people, including doctors, injured patients and babies, two of whom were born a few days ago, were trapped in Al Awda as Israel resumed its offensive in the north since Sunday.
Dr. Salha said in phone interviews and voice messages that the hospital was effectively surrounded by Israeli troops. People inside the hospital could not leave, outside aid could not reach them, and ambulances could not respond to calls to bring the injured.
Doctors Without Borders, which has staff in the area, reported that the hospital Surrounded by tanks on Monday. WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an emergency medical team deployed by the WHO at the hospital was forced to relocate on May 13 due to “increased hostilities”. say on social media On Tuesday, a call was made to protect remaining patients and staff.
The Israeli military declined to comment on its military operations around Auda.
Poor conditions in hospitals are part of a pattern that has been repeated in the Gaza Strip during more than seven months of war. Israeli troops have surrounded and Hospital raid back Hospital, claiming they are used by Hamas fighters. Israeli soldiers have return The second attack on some hospitals was in response to what the military said was a resurgence of Hamas.
Medecins Sans Frontières said Israeli forces surrounded the Al Awda hospital for nearly two weeks in December before sending troops in, killing several people and detaining others for interrogation. Médecins Sans Frontières said its staff were among the detainees.
Dr. Saha took over leadership of the hospital staff after the hospital’s director, Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, was among those detained by Israel and is currently missing, according to ActionAid, a nongovernmental organization that supports the hospital.
Dr. Adnan Ahmed Al-Abouch, the former head of orthopedics at Shifa Hospital, was also detained in Al Awda in December, where he was working at the time.he died in Israeli custodyPalestinian officials and rights groups said earlier this month.
Dr. Salha said that because no one could enter or leave Oda Hospital, doctors and patients gathered in rooms and corridors inside the hospital to protect themselves from gunfire and shelling that hit the outer walls.
He said there were four babies trapped in the hospital, two of whom were delivered via caesarean section on May 18 and the other two were the children of hospital nurses.
Dr Saha said on Monday there was about three days’ worth of fuel left and no clean water. He said those trapped inside were “very scared”.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only other major hospital in the north still partially operational, came under multiple attacks on Tuesday, according to witnesses, Gaza health officials and media. WHO The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.
Like Al Awda, Kamal Adwan Attacked by Israeli troops In december it became an essential facility Treat malnourished children in the north.
Reuters video showed people evacuating the area around the hospital on Tuesday, some wearing white medical coats and others being wheeled out on gurneys. Hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safia told the news agency that after the entrance to the emergency room was bombed, missiles kept flying, preventing medical staff from reaching the victims.
“The situation is catastrophic,” he said.
Amira Haruda Contributed reporting.
