Gaza is “uninhabitable”, declares the UN: dramatic testimony from a volunteer who went to the north of the enclave

Gaza is now “uninhabitable”, says the United Nations Human Rights Office. Since October 7, the enclave has been subject to incessant and indiscriminate bombing. Without access, international observers are still struggling to determine the exact scale of the disaster. However, Aurélie Godard, head of medical activities for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, crossed the north of the Palestinian enclave to reach thelift the fuel count it what did you see.

Godard specifically targeted Al-Shifa hospital which was crippled after the Israeli army massively bombed the area around the facility. The hospital was hit several times by attacks and then surrounded before being evacuated.

This hospital, the largest in the Gaza Stripgradually transformed into a camp for displaced persons and is now home to around 50,000 people. On site, the medical team is working to maintain the population’s access to medical care with the partial resumption of their activities.

“The main objective of the convoy I was traveling in was to deliver 19,000 liters of fuel to Al-Shifa hospital. This fuel is essential because it is used to power the generators that supply electricity to the hospital,” Godard explains in a statement to which he had access. Clarion. And in which he describes in detail hungry multitudes.

“We managed to pass the checkpoint separating the north and south of Gaza in the early afternoon, and soon after our two cars and the fuel truck were surrounded by a crowd of young people They asked for water and food. They were really disappointed that we were only carrying fuel. we had many difficulties to overcome this crowd so dense with hungry people”.

“Everything is destroyed”

Godard’s testimony is in line with statements by senior United Nations officials describing an apocalyptic landscape in Gaza.

In November, the UN special rapporteur on housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, estimated that “45 percent of homes in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged by the Israeli attack.” The head of European diplomacy Josep Borell described it in December an “apocalyptic” situation in Gaza. According to him, the level of destruction was equal to or even higher than that of Germany during the Second World War.

“As the months passed, the bombing continued from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip. There are fewer and fewer observers on site, making it increasingly difficult to understand the situation. Many journalists have been killed and others have been killed. Left. We have fewer and fewer images and data with which to analyze shootings and attacks”, complains Emily Tripp, director of Airwars.

This NGO investigates civilian victims of armed conflicts. “When people who document and testify to the damage caused by each attack are killed, the possibility of taking stock and identifying the perpetrators is also prevented”, he adds.

Hamas’ Ministry of Health has already counted more than 26,700 dead and 65,000 wounded since the start of the military operation. “Beyond the human impact, we are witnessing the destruction of an entire society,” says Emily Tripp. “Schools, water pipes, mosques… everything was destroyed. everything is destroyed“, he complains.

The state of Al Shifa hospital

When Godard finally arrived at the hospital, he found him standing, but very damaged.

“Al-Shifa hospital is still standing, but it is badly damaged and barely functions. In the corridors the false ceilings were knocked down and we saw IV bags (for administering drugs intravenously) hanging directly on the walls of the hospital, for lack of anything better,” he says.

The medical teams on site managed to restart the emergency room, which however is largely occupied by hospitalized patients. The rest of the hospital is filled with evacuees seeking safety, according to Godard’s description.

Medical staff get receive, classify and stabilize the injuredbut then they become a little stagnant, because they’re there a serious shortage of hospital beds. They have a resuscitation space, where people in critical and potentially life-threatening conditions can be treated.

“Patients here usually have chronic illnesses or have been injured by a bullet or explosion. During our visit we periodically heard explosions not far from the hospital,” he adds.

Thousands injured, no more hospitals

The lack of water, fuel, electricity and medicines is affecting the functioning of hospitals in general. “How can you work without equipment, without light? Without electricity there isn’t even an incubator for premature babies. If a doctor can’t wash his hands, there are serious health problems. The consequences are cascading”, comments Christina Wille.

Wille is director of Insecurity Insight, a Switzerland-based association that analyzes the impact of violence on the civilian population in terms of food security, health and education.

Hospitals were also hit by bombing. “Some directly,” Wille complains. “Others, indirectly, through explosions in the surrounding area.” In the case of Al Shifa the main oxygen generator It was destroyed.

According to the WHO, only seven of 24 hospitals in northern Gaza remain open. They only work partially. The same is true in southern Gaza, where only seven of the 12 hospitals They are partially operational, according to the UN agency. “With the Nasser hospital and the European hospital in Gaza out of action, there is virtually no healthcare system left in Gaza,” says Guillemette Thomas, medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Palestine.

A day in Al Shifa

Godard says that “in the emergency room (in Al Shifa) we treated a seriously injured patient who had arrived the day before. He had undergone a tracheotomy, a chest tube and abdominal surgery. He was surrounded by dozens of other patients a room without electricitysince at that time there was a power failure and, therefore, his vital functions were not monitored, because the monitoring devices were not working.”

He continues: “The team told us that they had recently lost a patient because they could not give him a blood transfusion. The blood bank is empty. “They work in terrible conditions.”

A large number of patients

“Al-Shifa staff find it difficult to care for patients because the needs are enormous. There are many people in and around the hospital, mostly evacuees. There are still many people living in northern Gaza, and many of them suffered trauma related to war wounds, but also due to poor living conditions and winter illnesses,” adds Godard.

“The number of patients is very high and medical staff have reported difficulties in many areas, be it shortages of oxygen, electricity, medical equipment or simply food. All of this makes providing healthcare extremely difficult and they must overcome enormous operational challenges. The convoy’s 19,000 liters of fuel will supply the hospital just for a week. For this to work, around 3,000 liters per day are needed.”

“My visit was very short – concludes Godard – since the journey from the south of the Gaza Strip lasted too long We weren’t allowed to stay there any longer than necessary.. It was touching to see the surprise on the faces of patients, displaced families and hospital staff when they saw new people. “They had probably been locked in there for weeks.”