AFPThey have strengthened Israeli terrestrial operations and new evacuation orders are stretching the gas system of the gas beyond Breaking Point, warned the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyes said that hospitals in the Indonesians, Kamal Advan and Al-Avda in the northern cities of Bate Lahia and Jabalia were in an evacuation zone announced on Tuesday. The other two hospitals are within 1 km (0.6 miles) of it.
Kamal Advan was out of service due to hostilities nearby, and the Indonesian hospital was inaccessible due to the presence of Israeli forces around her, he added.
The Al-Avda Hospital is still functioning, but the director told the BBC on Wednesday that he was “completely under siege”.
“No one can move and we cannot get any cases outside the hospital,” said Dr. Mohammed Salha.
He added that in the vicinity of the hospital and the outside area of the hospital there is a drone of a quadcopter “shooting in the area of the hospital and the outside area of the hospital”.
“We also hear firing from tanks … maybe 400 or 500 meters (away).”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it “works in the area against terrorist purposes”, but “is not aware of the siege of the hospital itself.”
Dr. Tedros said: “Even if healthcare facilities are not attacked or forced to evacuate, hostilities and military presence prevents patients and employees from accessing and which of the supplies of hospitals, which can quickly make them dysfunctional.”
“We have seen this too many times – it should not be allowed to repeat.”
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also said that at least 20 medical establishments in Gaza were damaged or forced in part or completely out of operation, in the past week of Israeli ground operations, air strikes and evacuation orders.
The charity has requested the Israeli authorities to stop what it calls “deliberate breach of gas and the destruction of its health system.”
Israel imposed a total blockade of gas on March 2 and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, ending the fire at two months. It says he wants to put pressure on Hamas to release his other 58 hostages, up to 23 of whom are thought to be alive.
After a few days of intense bombing, IDF launched an extended offensive on Sunday, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would see the ground forces “control all areas” of Gaza. The plan is reported to include a completely clearing north of civilians and forcibly displaces them south.
More than 600 people were killed and 2,000 wounded in the last week, according to the health ministry in the territory. The UN says tens of thousands of people have been recently displaced.
Netanyahu also said that Israel would allow “a basic” amount of food in gas to prevent hunger. But so far, the UN has failed to collect the dozens of trucks authorized by Monday.
The MSF said the volume of help allowed so far was not almost enough, describing it as “smoke to pretend that the siege is over.”
On Tuesday, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories said he recently returned from Gaza and witnessed how the health system faces attacks and acute shortage of supply.
“Every time you enter the gas, you always think it can't get worse. But it gets worse,” Dr. Rick Peppercorn told reporters in Geneva.
He described how the Al-Awda Hospital was “buried” and reduced low in supply. The hostilities had damaged the facility, interrupted access, and deterred people to seek health, he added.
He said that the Indonesian hospital was almost out of the reach, almost inaccessible, and that most patients had left last week after an employee was killed, a patient was injured and the facility was damaged during increased hostilities.
Only 15 people, including patients and staff, were still inside the hospital since Tuesday, urgently needed food and water, he added.
The hospital generator was also struck by an Israeli quadcopter on Monday night, causing a great fire and eclipse, according to Mer-C Indonesia, NGOs, built the facility.
On Wednesday, a woman at the hospital told the BBC on the phone that two of the patients were in a “serious condition”.
There were crashes on the background of the conversation.
“Five minutes ago, there was an intense shooting in the hospital environment,” she said, adding that she could see tanks.
The woman also said they still had food supplies to the hospital, but were “facing an aquatic crisis.”
IDF told the BBC that it works in the area around the hospital and heads for “terrorist infrastructure sites”, but that it is not directed to the hospital itself.
ReutersIn another incident on Tuesday, a paramedic said his ambulance was shot by an Israeli drone while he transported staff and food between Al-Avda and Kamal Advana hospitals.
Khaled Sadeh said it was with another ambulance when the bullets hit the windshields of both vehicles. No one was injured.
Dr. Salha shared photos of the ambulances and confirmed that Mr. Sade was unable to return to Al-Avda because of the threat of Israeli fire.
The BBC provided details about IDF's claims and photos, but said it “couldn't confirm” the reports.
Hospitals and medical staff are specially protected under international humanitarian law.
Hospitals lose this protection only in certain circumstances. These include to be used as a base from which to start an attack, as a weapon depot, or to hide healthy fighters.
IDF urges his strength to act in accordance with international law. In most cases, when she attacked hospitals, he said they had been used incorrectly by Hamas, a claim that the group had denied.
SuppliedIn the southern city of Khan Eunice, the European Hospital – the only facility providing neurosurgery, cardiac care and treatment of cancer in Gaza – has been out of service since May 13.
This day, the courtyard and the surrounding hospital were affected by a series of Israeli air strikes, which Israel's Defense Minister said he was aimed at an underground bunker, where Hamas Mohammed Sinuar's military wing was hidden. The Hamas Civil Protection Agency said at least 28 people died, but it is not yet clear if Sinwar died.
The facility is also in an Israeli area designated for evacuation, covering almost the entire eastern half of Khan Eunice on Monday.
Dr. Tedros said that the Nasser, al-amal and al-Axa hospitals, as well as a field hospital, are within 1 km of the area.
ReutersDr. Victoria Rose, a British surgeon working at Nasar Hospital, said in a video posted on social media on Wednesday That she was much worried about the fact that the facility was evacuated or cut off by Israeli troops moving by Al-Aksa, which in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
“If we are cut from the middle zone, there are really no other hospitals around us to deal with Nasser's evacuation,” she explained.
“We have some incredible field hospitals … But none of them is able to do the type of surgery we do here. And none of them has ICU or oxygen -generated capacity. So, even together they couldn't handle the amount of patients we have.”
She warned: “If Nasser is evacuated, we really look at the upcoming deaths of hundreds of patients because we will not be able to take them anywhere.”
ReutersNasser was also struck by an Israeli blow on May 13, killing two people, including a Palestinian journalist who was being treated for injuries he received in a previous blow to a thumb camp in the complex. The attack also destroyed 18 beds in a burner, according to the WHO.
IDF has accused the journalist of being an operative Hamas and claims that the hospital was used by the group for “carrying out terrorist plots”.
Another blow on Monday seriously damaged Nasser's medical warehouse and destroyed the critical one supplies, according to the hospital director.
Dry Shaat, a pharmacist from Khan Denis, who was told by IDF to evacuate and head to the camps in the area of the coastal Al Mavasi, told the BBC in a voice note: “I have not left my house so far because I have not found a place to adjust my tent.”
“The humanitarian situation is very serious – no water, no food, no fuel. The firing hits everywhere,” she added.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.
At least 53,655 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,509 of the renewal of the Israeli offensive, according to the Ministry of Health on the territory.