Over 9,488 martyrs; Gaza's health sector on the brink

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
4 Nov 2023 16:39

By the 29th day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the number of martyrs has reached 9,488, including 3,900 children and 2,509 women.

A girl looks on as she stands by the rubble outside a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (AFP)

The Israeli occupation continues to bombard residential areas, hospitals, ambulances, UN schools, as well as vital infrastructure in the Gaza Strip amid a stifling blockade that has banned the entry of vital resources, such as fuel, food, and medicine, with the health sector being seriously jeopardized by the stifling siege.

By the 29th day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the number of martyrs has reached 9,488, including 3,900 children and 2,509 women, as per the Gaza Ministry of Health. Additionally, there are 24,158 wounded individuals, with approximately 2,000 people still trapped under the debris, including 1,250 children.

"I didn’t get the chance to see you grow up."

This father mourned his dead son in #Gaza after an Israeli airstrike killed him.

Kamal Shaat, the 9-year-old kid, and his father probably had their own dreams and plans for the future. Now, after "Israel" stole him away from him,… pic.twitter.com/oYYOtPixI3
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 4, 2023

Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra confirmed that "Israel" has committed a total of 1,006 massacres against Palestinian families, including 10 major massacres, leading to the tragic loss of 231 lives in the past few hours.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he confirmed that Israeli warplanes hit Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia refugee camp, killing 15 and wounding at least 70 of the forcibly displaced families who had taken shelter there.

Al-Qudra emphasized that children, women, and the elderly make up 70% of the victims of the Israeli aggression.

Health sector in Gaza is on its last breath

In terms of the healthcare system, he revealed that the Israeli aggression has led to the martyrdom of 150 Palestinian healthcare workers, noting that "Israel" has deliberately put 105 health institutions, 16 hospitals, and 32 primary care centers out of service, and destroyed 27 ambulances.

Even hospitals that have not been directly targeted by Israeli warplanes have been indirectly affected by the intimidation of medical staff and patients, he added.

BREAKING| Israeli aircraft attack the vicinity of the Al Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/wsrXq2Gl7S
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) November 4, 2023

Al-Qudra stressed that the surroundings and entrances of hospitals, particularly in Gaza and its northern areas, have been constantly bombed.

He warned that al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital are facing an imminent fuel crisis. Within the next 24 hours, al-Shifa will have to switch off its main generator and rely on the auxiliary generator to maintain essential operations.

“We were standing inside the hospital gate when the ambulance was directly hit in front of us. There were bloody bodies everywhere. Many were killed immediately, while we rushed others to the operating room for emergency care,” says Dr Obaid, MSF doctor at Al Shifa hospital. pic.twitter.com/MrcVAPygz5
— MSF International (@MSF) November 4, 2023

No more electricity in Al Shifa Hospital #Gaza pic.twitter.com/9MO9kBrLWY
— Hind Khoudary (@Hind_Gaza) November 3, 2023

He explained that the decision is made to prioritize vital hospital departments, including the oxygen station, intensive care, reception, and emergency units, stressing that the situation remains critical, and urgent international intervention is needed to prevent a catastrophic collapse of medical services.