UN staff who helped evacuate seriously injured patients from Nasser Hospital in Gaza described the facility's "appalling" conditions.
The United Nations**, which carried out an evacuation mission from Nasser Hospital in Gaza, described "appalling" conditions at the enclave's second-largest medical facility, saying that Israeli military operations had turned the "land of **" there into a "place of death".
The comments were made in a ** posted online on Wednesday, at a time when there were growing concerns about the dozens of patients and staff still trapped inside the hospital as Israel intensified its bombardment of the area.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza ceased operations last week after a week-long Israeli siege and raid. The global health agency, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has so far successfully evacuated some 32 critically ill patients, including injured children and paralyzed patients.
OCHA Jonathan Whittal, who participated in the evacuation mission on 18-19 February, said patients in hospitals were in a "desperate situation" and were stranded without food, water and electricity.
The conditions are alarming. There are bodies in the corridors," he said. "This has become the land of death, not the land of **. ”
Rescue teams have previously said they had to use flashlights through the pitch-black hallway amid gunfire to find the patient. They had to reach on foot because there was a deep and muddy ditch near the hospital, making the road near the hospital impassable.
You can imagine the worst ever. You multiply that number by 10, and it's the worst I've ever seen in my life," said Julio Martinez, a WHO worker. "It's debris, it's light, it's working in the dark, it's sick everywhere. ”
According to the Palestinian Health Authority, at least eight patients died at the facility, mainly due to a lack of fuel and oxygen. They said there was a direct threat to the lives of the remaining people and accused the Israeli army of actually turning the site into a "barracks."
Chris Black, who correspondent, said the entire community around the hospital had been "destroyed and destroyed".
The hospital itself has no electricity, no food, no water," he added.
About 130 seriously injured patients and 15 medical staff remain at the scene, the World Health Organization said.
According to a former colleague, despite the critical situation, the doctors and ** of the hospital did not plead for evacuation, but asked for the hospital's function to be restored.
It's been a painful last week. It's a nightmare for the staff at the hospital. What they're seeing is painful, and they're asking for some kind of help," said Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an American emergency physician who volunteered at Nasser Hospital for a few weeks in January.
In fact, instead of evacuating the hospital, they are asking for it to continue to function. In order to turn the lights back on, for the remaining patients, they need medication," he said.
I spoke with the last surgeon who stayed there, and he sent a message to a group of doctors in the U.S. who asked us to defend the patients there. He told us, 'I'm staring at the patients, they need my help, they need my care, but there's nothing I can do,'" Ahmed added.
The World Health Organization said it is continuing efforts to evacuate more patients.
In a statement earlier this week, the agency called the demolition and degradation of Nasser Hospital a "huge blow" to Gaza's health system. Nasser Hospital is the newest medical facility to become a war zone in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It said the remaining facilities in the south were "already well above maximum capacity" and could barely take in more patients.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 29,092 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7.
About 1,139 people were killed in Israeli Hamas attacks.