Gaza City Hospitals Forced to Close Under Israeli Fire
HAVANA TIMES – On Friday, September 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported four more hospitals forced to close in the north of the war-torn Gaza Strip, as the growing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm medical professionals there,
“This brings the total number of functioning hospitals in Gaza to just 14. The situation in the eight remaining hospitals, and a field hospital in the city, is critical,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic stated in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The Israeli attack is concentrated in Gaza City in the northern section of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has launched a major offensive there, seeking to displace its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, in order to raze and search the areas where it believes the Hamas militia is still holding hostages.
Amid bombing and an advance of armored vehicles and infantry, the Israeli army ordered the entire population to evacuate the city. They want to confine the more than two million Palestinians who live in the 365 square kilometers (141 square miles) of the Gaza strip to the southern section only.
The current conflict broke out after the Islamist militia Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages. Israel responded with a violent assault on the entire Gaza strip, which has caused in the deaths of more than 65,000 Palestinians and left more than 167,000 wounded. Hundreds have died of starvation.
On Friday, addressing the United Nations General Assembly at its headquarters in New York, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces would continue to advance “until we finish the job, Hamas is eliminated, and the hostages are rescued.”
WHO spokesperson Jasarevic recalled that Gaza City is the backbone of the Strip’s health system, as it is home to almost half of all the health centers and field hospitals in the Palestinian enclave.
“Even when the hospitals are not asked to evacuate, there is a lack of access, violence in the vicinity, and that can put them out of service,” he emphasized.
“Hospitals in the south are overwhelmed and cannot absorb any more,” the WHO warned in a separate statement, noting that the remaining hospitals in the enclave include eight in Gaza City, three in Deir al-Balah, and three in Khan Yunis. None of them are operating at full capacity.
In the hospitals that remain open in Gaza City and the one field hospital, “the situation is critical, with medical teams overwhelmed by the influx of victims of the attacks, in addition to having to treat other patients,” the WHO said.
The four hospitals in northern Gaza that were put out of service this month are Al Rantisi Children’s Hospital, the Eye Hospital, St. John Eye Hospital, and Hamad Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Hospital.
The WHO describes Hamad Hospital as one of the three principal centers in the Gaza Strip that specializes in rehabilitation. This hospital treated 250 outpatients with rehabilitation services, in addition to an average of 200 wounded patients each day.
Al Rantisi Hospital, the only specialties hospital remaining in the Strip, suffered severe damage from a direct attack on September 16 while caring for 80 patients. There were no fatalities, but considerable damage was done to water tanks, communication systems, and medical equipment. Half of the patients fled, while 40 others remain in the hospital, including four children in intensive care and eight newborns.
All hospitals in the Strip are overwhelmed by the influx of victims of the attacks, with shortages of supplies and forced to treat patients on the ward floor. There is a severe shortage of blood units, blood bags, and transfusion equipment, meaning that “services could close within days if there is no urgent replenishment.”
Jasarevic stressed: “more violence only means more injuries, more casualties, more deaths, and less access. People in Gaza are suffering multiple displacements; there are shortages of medical supplies and access problems for humanitarian and health workers and patients alike.”
Israel has blocked the aid UN humanitarian agencies from bringing to the Strip, including food, medical supplies, medicines, water, hygiene items, and fuel needed to power hospital generators.
Jasarevic reiterated the WHO’s call for the urgent evacuation of the thousands of seriously ill patients in need of specialized attention. “There are over 15,000 people needing to be evacuated for medical reasons, while the evacuations are advancing very, very slowly,” he lamented.
“We can only ask for a cease fire and unhindered access so we can attempt to support what’s left of the health system in Gaza with medical supplies, emergency medical equipment and everything else,” the WHO spokesperson concluded.
First published in Spanish by IPS and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.