Gaza’s largest hospital an ‘empty shell’ with human graves: WHO

Published April 7, 2024
workers unload medical aid from a truck near Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip.—Reuters
workers unload medical aid from a truck near Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip.—Reuters

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation said on Saturday that Gaza’s largest hospital had been reduced to ashes by Israel’s latest siege, leaving an “empty shell” with many bodies.

Israeli forces pulled out of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week military operation, during which it said it had battled Palestinian militants inside what was once the Palestinian territory’s most important medical complex.

A WHO-led mission finally accessed the hospital on Friday, after multiple failed attempts since March 25, the UN health agency said, describing the massive destruction.

“WHO and partners managed to reach Al Shifa — once the backbone of the health system in Gaza, which is now an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege,” agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He said the team had seen “at least five dead bodies during the mission”. They had also found that “most of the buildings in the hospital complex are extensively destroyed and the majority of assets damaged or reduced to ashes”, the WHO chief said.

“Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible,” he said, adding that “an in-depth assessment by a team of engineers is needed to determine if the remaining buildings are safe for future use”.

Tedros lamented that efforts by WHO and other aid groups to revive basic services at Al Shifa after Israel’s first devastating raid on the hospital last year “are now lost, and people are once again deprived of access to lifesaving health care services”.

Of Gaza’s 36 main hospitals, only 10 remain partially functional, according to WHO.Tedros said urgent action was needed in Gaza as “famine looms, disease outbreaks spread and trauma injuries increase”.

He called for the “protection of remaining health facilities in Gaza (and) protection of health and humanitarian workers”.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2024

Opinion

Accessing the RSF

Accessing the RSF

RSF can help catalyse private sector inves­tment encouraging investment flows, build upon institutional partnerships with MDBs, other financial institutions.

Editorial

Madressah oversight
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Madressah oversight

Bill should be reconsidered and Directorate General of Religious Education, formed to oversee seminaries, should not be rolled back.
Kurram’s misery
19 Dec, 2024

Kurram’s misery

THE unfolding humanitarian crisis in Kurram district, particularly in Parachinar city, has reached alarming...
Hiking gas rates
19 Dec, 2024

Hiking gas rates

IMPLEMENTATION of a new Ogra recommendation to increase the gas prices by an average 8.7pc or Rs142.45 per mmBtu in...
Geopolitical games
Updated 18 Dec, 2024

Geopolitical games

While Assad may be gone — and not many are mourning the end of his brutal rule — Syria’s future does not look promising.
Polio’s toll
18 Dec, 2024

Polio’s toll

MONDAY’s attacks on polio workers in Karak and Bannu that martyred Constable Irfanullah and wounded two ...
Development expenditure
18 Dec, 2024

Development expenditure

PAKISTAN’S infrastructure development woes are wide and deep. The country must annually spend at least 10pc of its...