What remains of the health system and infrastructure in Gaza is far from sufficient for the battered population’s needs as it enters a third month of siege, experts say.
Eighteen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still functioning, but can only provide partial services, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, adding that the 12 operational hospitals in the south are “the backbone of the health system.”
A WHO team visiting Nasser Hospital said the conditions there were “catastrophic” amid a flood of patients on Monday. “The the building and hospital grounds [are] grossly overcrowded with patients and displaced people seeking shelter,” the statement said. “The emergency ward is overflowing with patients…Many patients are being treated on the floor.”
In a voice message posted on Monday, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder also described harrowing conditions in Nasser Hospital rooms after a blast had hit less than 100 meters away.
“There must be a hundred people, children now have been woken up by the bombs and explosions,” Elder said as babies’ cries could be heard in the background.
“Parents just have that look of.. the feeling no parent ever wants to experience, which is helplessness,” he said.
On Monday night, the Israeli military was heavily bombarding the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, causing damage, a journalist at the hospital told CNN in a voice message, describing the situation as “very serious.” He added that he could hear airstrikes and artillery fire, and that anyone moving near the hospital was being shot at.
“There is damage inside the [Kamal Adwan] hospital due to the heavy fall of shrapnel on the hospital building and on the displaced people in the hospital’s yard,” Anas Al-Sharif said as explosions were heard in the background.
The Gaza Ministry of Health also accused the Israeli army of targeting Kamal Adwan Hospital in a statement issued late Monday. However, CNN cannot independently verify these claims, and the IDF did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli army confirmed that it was targeting Hamas infrastructure throughout Gaza.