In the Gaza Strip, bombarded by Israel after a Hamas offensive on Saturday, the al-Chifa hospital is crumbling under the wounded. Entire families arrive one after the other, the staff is overwhelmed: “the situation is catastrophic”, warn the local authorities.
Akram Al-Haddad, 25, stands next to the bed of his one-and-a-half-year-old nephew Abdelrahman al-Douss, injured in an Israeli airstrike that killed his four-and-a-half-year-old brother and 16 others .
The child survived with his parents, who were also injured in the strike that destroyed the family home in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, in the southeast of Gaza City, Akram says, with a sad face.
But, “he needs urgent surgery for his head injury,” explains his doctor. Problem: “he must wait until an operating room becomes available”.
“We are working in exceptional circumstances […] and we must guarantee a continuous electricity supply and the availability of the necessary equipment before carrying out any surgical intervention,” laments the doctor who introduces himself as Abdallah.
Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, since Saturday, in response to an offensive of unprecedented scale by the Palestinian Islamist movement against the Israeli state.
In total, and according to a provisional report, 765 people were killed and 4,000 injured on the Palestinian side, according to local authorities.
At this hospital, “a large number” of people are waiting for their turn in the emergency room. But “some lose their lives long before” being taken care of, regrets Abdallah.
“We have treated a large number of injured people, mostly women and children who arrive at the same time,” explains emergency doctor Mohammad Ghoneim, interrupted by the arrival of new injured people: three women, two children, an elderly man. and two young people.
“The limited capacity [de l’hôpital] worsens the number of victims,” he then adds, lamenting the lack of medical supplies which adds to shortages of electricity, water and oxygen, while Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant , announced Monday the imposition of a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip.
“No electricity, no water, no gas,” he said.
” Nowhere to go “
On her hospital bed, Om Rama al-Hassasna is surrounded by her four children aged three to six years old. They were all injured in an Israeli strike that targeted a nearby house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip.
But her house was seriously damaged, she explains. “I was injured as were the children. They brought us here, we are waiting to be treated,” she continues.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned that the lack of medical supplies and medicines would lead to a “catastrophic situation” in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people.
Eight hospitals “are not enough to meet the needs of citizens,” he assured.
Israeli bombings knocked out Beit Hanoun hospital in the north and damaged the neonatal medicine department at al-Chifa hospital.
Salameh Maarouf, the director of the Hamas-led government media office, regrets that, “given the large number of wounded,” Gaza lacks “medication, medical supplies, scanners and X-ray machines.” »
The official accuses “the occupation (Israel) of deliberately creating a miserable humanitarian situation through restrictions or aggression,” saying the Israeli state “warned that if fuel is supplied to the power plant by Egypt, the power station will be bombed.”
Homeless, many families found refuge in the corridors of al-Chifa hospital and in the garden. After being treated, many of them have no place to go.
“My house was completely destroyed […] All the houses here were destroyed,” testifies Abou Ashour Sukayk, 39, in a strangled voice.
“It was a dark night for me, my wife and my children.”