The Ministry of Health reports: “Doctors and patients trapped”. But Israel denies it. The structure without water, food and electricity
al-Shifa hospital in Gaza at the center of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israeli authorities believe Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza is hiding right under the hospital. According to the Strip’s Ministry of Health, medical staff and patients are unable to leaveto structure, “completely besieged” by Israeli tanks. The hospital lacks water, food and electricity and two premature babies have died due to the electricity blackouts.
From them the Israeli forces (IDF) maintain that the hospital “is not under siege”, but there are clashes with “Hamas militants” in the complex that hosts it. However, civilians in the building can leave it safely. In a video message in Arabic, a Tel Aviv army officer explained that the eastern area of the hospital is open for anyone who wants to leave the facility, adding that the IDF is in contact with the director of the hospital.
The version of the director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Munir Al-Bursh, is different, who in an interview with CNN claims that there are more than 100 bodies wrapped in sheets in the hospital complex. “We cannot burn them. The occupation forces surround the hospital, preventing the evacuation of the wounded.” Those who are now injured are transported to the Baptist hospital in al-Ahli, since al-Shifa is now inaccessible.
2 premature babies died
Two premature newborns died due to electricity blackouts, reported Doctors for Human Rights-Israel, an Israeli non-profit that has been dealing with the right to health in the Jewish State and the Palestinian Territories since 1988. “Due to the lack of electricity, we can report that the neonatal intensive care unit has stopped functioning. Two premature babies have died and there is a real risk to the lives of another 37 premature babies,” the group said in a note referring to al-Shifa hospital.
Hospital director at Shifa: “Isolated and without electricity”
”A few minutes from death”. This is how Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of the al-Shifa hospital, feels when interviewed by the broadcaster al-Jazeera from inside the facility which is said to be under siege by Israeli tanks. Explaining that the hospital is isolated, ”left without electricity, Internet and even without water and medical supplies”, Abu Salmiya denounces being ”completely cut off from the whole world”. And he claims that ”we have sent many SOS signals to the world, but none have been listened to, we have had no response”. ”The hospital complex is cordoned off and targeted – reports Abu Salmiya -. Any person moving within the compound is targeted. The Israeli occupation forces are outside and preventing anyone from moving”.
The Haaretz newspaper adds that communication with al-Shifa hospital has been interrupted. Doctors Without Borders also lost contact with its staff inside the hospital, after the “heavy bombings” that occurred nearby. “In the last few hours, attacks against Al-Shifa hospital have intensified dramatically. MSF staff at the hospital have reported a catastrophic situation inside,” the group wrote in a post on X. “Al We are currently unable to communicate with our staff within Al Shifa and are extremely concerned about the safety of patients and medical staff,” the organization added.
Hamas commander killed in Gaza: “He was hiding in a school”
The Israel Defense Forces said it had Hamas commander “holding around a thousand Gaza residents hostage in Rantisi hospital” killed. In a statement, the IDF announced that, based on intelligence information collected by the Shin Bet and the Military Intelligence Directorate, troops of the Givati Brigade conducted a raid to hit Ahmed Siam. Two days ago, according to Israeli accusations, the Hamas commander prevented around a thousand people from evacuating the Rantisi hospital, north of Gaza. According to the IDF, Siam was killed in the raid on the al-Buraq school, where he was hiding together with other Hamas operatives under his command. “Ahmed Siam has demonstrated once again that Hamas uses civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields for terrorist purposes,” the Israel Defense Forces denounced.
Source-www.adnkronos.com