Gaza Genocide: Bodies Piled Up at Al-Shifa Hospital amid Israeli Siege, Fire
“There are bodies littered in the hospital complex, and there is no longer electricity at the morgues,” Al-Shifa Hospital Director Mohammad Abu Salmiya said on Tuesday. “We were forced to bury them in a mass grave.”
He said 179 bodies had been interred so far in the courtyard and seven babies and 29 intensive care patients were among those who have died since fuel for the hospital’s generator ran out on Saturday.
Israeli forces have surrounded the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, which Israel says sits atop a complex of tunnels and a command center used by fighters from the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Hamas has denied fighters are present and said 650 patients and 5,000 to 7,000 displaced civilians are trapped inside the hospital grounds and under constant fire from snipers and drones.
The United Nations estimated that at least 2,300 people – patients, staff and displaced civilians – are inside and may be unable to escape amid fierce fighting.
The United Nations said 22 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are not functional due to lack of generator fuel, damage and combat.
“The 14 hospitals remaining open have barely enough supplies to sustain critical and lifesaving surgeries and provide inpatient care, including intensive care,” said the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Palestinian Territories.
Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said on Tuesday that an Israeli offer to move babies out of Al-Shifa Hospital with portable incubators has not resulted in a concrete plan.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said moving sick and vulnerable patients out of the hospital was an “impossible task”.
“And again, why would you need to move them?” she asked. “A hospital should never be under attack. A hospital is a place of safe haven. This is agreed under international humanitarian law.”
Israel has denied that the hospital is under siege and said it is giving people inside the hospital routes to escape. Medical workers and health officials in the hospital have rejected the claim and said Israeli fire has brought additional danger to the performance of their medical duties.
“The occupation is still besieging the hospital, and they are firing into the yards from time to time,” al-Qudra said. “We still can’t move around, but sometimes doctors are taking the risk when they need to attend to patients.”
The Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places in the world, has been under the regime's relentless air and ground strikes for the past 39 days.
According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 11,255 Palestinians, including 4,630 children and 3,130 women, have been killed and more than 29,000 others injured in the Israeli strikes.
Source: Agencies
