Over 10,000 martyred in Gaza as 'Israel' further punishes hospitals
4 Min Read
The Israeli occupation continues committing massacres in Gaza amid an onslaught on the Strip's hospitals and medical facilities, rendering it increasingly difficult to treat patients.
-
A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is brought to a hospital in Khan Younis, on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The Israeli aggression on Gaza has thus far martyred 10,022 people, including 4,104 children, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Monday.
According to the Gaza Ministry, the Israeli occupation committed 19 massacres over the past few hours, killing 300 people at the very least, most of whom are women and children.
Read next: US officials confirm accuracy of Gaza health ministry: NYT
"The collapsing health sector in Gaza is completely paralyzed and incapable of saving the lives of patients," the ministry said, calling for the provision of "a safe and urgent humanitarian corridor to allow the entry of medical equipment and fuel, as well as to allow patients to leave Gaza for treatment," as well as urging the United Nations and the entire world to take action to put an end to the aggression.
The ministry asked for the provision of food and other necessities to the medical staff operating in hospitals in these dire times.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced and homeless in light of fears of famine and epidemics, an Al Mayadeen correspondent in Gaza reported.
As people suffer from disease and injuries as many have been afflicted with near-fatal wounds, the Israeli occupation is still directly and deliberately targeting medical facilities.
Medical facilties: An Israeli target
The Israeli occupation forces bombed the Al-Quds building in the Al-Shifa medical complex, wherein a missile fell on the last floor of the building, which houses hundreds of displaced individuals and medical staff. As electricity becomes more scarce in the blockaded Gaza due to "Israel" preventing any aid from making it in, the IOF also bombed the solar panels providing power to the main building in the complex.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, said, "The so-called 'safe passages' that the occupation talks about are nothing but pathways to death," emphasizing that "the occupation takes international silence as a green light to continue perpetrating its massacres."
In light of the international silence al-Qudra is talking about, Euro-Med Rights said the Israeli occupation "has committed its largest massacre since its establishment within a few hours in Gaza, resulting in more than 1,500 casualties."
"The health sector has become completely helpless as the aggression enters its second month," al-Qudra said. "The direct targeting of bakeries has led to a major crisis in providing food for the population," he said, as the threat of famine continues to loom in the blockaded strip.
Al-Qudra called on all parties to work on providing a safe humanitarian corridor to ensure the passage of aid.
The spokesperson for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Mohammad Al-Hajj, said: "The situation of Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital is catastrophic. We are now facing a major challenge due to the lack of resources and the collapse of the healthcare system."
Health sector in free-fall
Due to the violent Israeli bombardment and complete blockade, approximately 16 hospitals, 32 primary care centers, 27 ambulances, and 105 medical facilities have been damaged or went out of service.
Sounding the alarm on the collapsed health sector in Gaza, al-Qudra said that "hospitals in the Gaza Strip are completely incapable of providing any health services and have only a few hours left" of fuel supplies, urging all relevant parties to secure a safe passage for the flow of humanitarian aid, including fuel, to Gaza."
In terms of residential buildings, Israeli airstrikes have destroyed 8,500 homes and 40,000 residential units, with an additional 220,000 units sustaining damages. Additionally, 88 government offices and 220 schools, 60 of which are now out of service, have been affected.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross IRCR sub-delegation in Gaza, William Schomburg, warned on Friday that the organization did not have the heavy equipment or bulldozers needed to assist people trapped under rubble in the Gaza Strip.
In a more recent statement, the international humanitarian body confirmed in a statement that "the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has become catastrophic," stating that "we have not witnessed anything like this since our permanent presence since 1967."
The committee also pointed out that "Gaza hospitals are on the verge of complete collapse, and surgeries are performed without anesthesia."
