War between Hamas and Israel: update on the situation at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza

The hospital complex Al Shifa is at heart fighting in Gaza. Since November 10, thousands of Palestinians who had taken refuge there have left the hospital, surrounded by the Israeli army. Bodies are piled up in the hospital courtyard. The morgue is overwhelmed. The doctors who remained described catastrophic conditions for 650 injured people, no electricity, no water. “The situation is very serious, it’s inhumane. People will die in a few hours because there are no working artificial respirators.”, testifies a surgeon, interviewed by Médecins sans frontières.

“Dismantle all Hamas military infrastructure”

According to doctors on site, around thirty hospitalized people have already died due to lack of treatment. The hospital is a major issue. According to the Israeli army, its underground spaces house the headquarters of the Hamas. It specifies their location, next to the morgue, the dialysis department or the maternity ward. “Our goal is to dismantle all the military infrastructure of the Hamas”, says Jonathan Conricusspokesperson for the Israeli army.

IDF shows his soldiers delivering 300 liters of fuel to run the hospital’s generators. The hospital refused to collect the cans. “We would have had to expose ourselves in the middle of the fighting, out in the open”underlines Youssef Abou Rich, Hamas Deputy Minister of Health.