Two days ago, 3,000 patients and medical staff and 20,000 evacuated citizens
Israeli troops insist on a safe withdrawal, but they cannot leave due to “firefights everywhere”
Israeli troops and Palestinian militants exchanged gunfire in front of the entrance to Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, and while Israeli airstrikes and bombings were carried out nearby, thousands of patients, medical staff, and refugees inside the hospital escaped on the 13th. As of 11 a.m. (6 p.m. Korean time), the Associated Press and others said there were still more than 3,000 people left.
Al Shifa Hospital has lost electricity and is unable to provide normal medical treatment to existing patients as well as new patients, so many critically ill patients are dying without being able to evacuate.
In particular, it was only known during the day on the 12th that about 30 newborns in the neonatal ward, where electricity was completely cut off by a large bomb two days ago, died and about 20 were moved to a surgical operating room where oxygen was supplied by a generator, but no news was received after that. there is.
Foreign media, including the Associated Press, are saying that it is difficult to understand the situation at various hospitals in Gaza City because the statements of the Israeli military and officials of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza are different.
The Israeli military has said since the previous day that it is providing a safe corridor for withdrawal to southern Gaza through the eastern side of the hospital, but Palestinian officials say people cannot leave Al-Shifa Hospital and other places because fierce gunfights are taking place in all directions nearby.
The Israeli military claims that the Hamas organization has set up a command post and military infrastructure underground at and near Al-Shifa Hospital and is using hospital residents as human shields. Hamas and its hospital officials have denied that this is true.
Among the 700,000 residents of Gaza City, nearly 500,000 have abandoned their homes and evacuated to the south, and as of Saturday the 11th, 1,500 patients, 1,500 medical staff, and up to 20,000 evacuees were inside Al Shifa Hospital. The Ministry of Health said:
But on Wednesday night, the secretary-general of the Gaza Hospital Association said there were 650 hospitalized and seriously injured patients in al-Shifa, along with 500 medical staff. And it is believed that 2,500 Gaza residents are still taking refuge in the hospital.
Additionally, as Israeli troops surrounded the hospital, many evacuated residents, patients, and medical staff left al-Shifa, a UN official said.
Most of the patients remaining at Alsifa are unable to be moved to other places without ambulances or other special procedures, so they remain at Alsifa.
However, with other hospitals in Gaza closed due to lack of electricity and medical supplies, it is unclear where Alsifah’s remaining patients can go.
Gaza’s health ministry said 20 patients, including three newborns, had died after the hospital’s emergency generator ran out of fuel two days ago. Another 36 newborns and several critically ill patients are at risk of losing their lives because there is no electricity to operate medical equipment.
The Israeli military said on the 12th that it would cooperate in moving the newborns after Al-Shifa’s newborn’s situation became known, but did not mention how they would be moved or where they would be taken.
As of the morning of the 13th, there is still no evidence that the newborns came out of Alsifah.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.