The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that all hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functional. Only nine of the 36 hospitals in Gaza before October 7 are operational at any level. The WHO assessment was made after UN teams assessed the Al Ahli Arab Hospital and Al Shifa Hospital on Wednesday.
WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator Sean Casey described the scene at Al Ahli Arab Hospital as “Patients were crying out in pain, but they were also crying out for us to give them water.” He explained the medical staff had “no food, no fuel, no water.”
“It looks more like a hospice now than a hospital. But a hospice implies a level of care that the doctors and nurses are unable to provide…. It’s pretty unbearable to see somebody with casts on multiple limbs, external fixator on multiple limbs, without drinking water and almost no IV fluids available,” Casey said. “At the moment, it’s a place where people are waiting to die unless we are able to move them to a safer location where they can receive care.”
Israel raided the Al-Ahli Hospital on Monday. Most of the medical staff was detained and a tank destroyed a wall. The head of orthopedic surgery at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in Gaza, Fadel Naim, said the raid “put the hospital out of action. We can’t receive any patients or injured.” He continued, “According to our information, there are dozens of wounded in the surrounding streets.”
Israel claims its operations inside Gaza are aimed at eliminating Hamas. Last month, the IDF raided the al-Shifa Hospital, asserting the tunnels under the hospital were used as a Hamas command center.
An investigation into the Israeli claim by the Washington Post published on Thursday concluded, “The evidence presented by the Israeli government falls short of showing that Hamas had been using the hospital as a command and control center, according to a Washington Post analysis of open-source visuals, satellite imagery and all of the publicly released IDF materials.”
Recently, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned there are “signals of epidemic diseases [in Gaza] including bloody diarrhea and jaundice.” He added that Gaza’s health system “is on its knees and collapsing.” Israeli professors have warned the lack of sewage infrastructure means disease is likely to run rampant.
The WHO statement released on Thursday confirmed the situation in Gaza has progressed toward the worst-case situation. “Gaza is already experiencing soaring rates of infectious diseases. Over 100,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported since mid-October. Half of these are among young children under the age of 5 years.” The WHO press release continues, “Over 150,000 cases of upper respiratory infection, and numerous cases of meningitis, skin rashes, scabies, lice and chickenpox have been reported. Hepatitis is also suspected as many people present with the tell-tale signs of jaundice.”
The WHO warns that the combination of epidemics and starvation will become fatal. An estimated 25% of Gazan households are facing starvation. “While a healthy body can more easily fight off these diseases, a wasted and weakened body will struggle. Hunger weakens the body’s defenses and opens the door to disease.” The WHO statement adds, “The people of Gaza, who have already suffered enough, now face death from starvation and diseases that could be easily treated with a functioning health system. This must stop.”
