EVERY hospital in Gaza City is out of service, with 36 premature babies at Al-Shifa Hospital facing death within 48 hours because there is no power for their incubators.
Israeli snipers are on rooftops surrounding the hospital, shooting and killing anyone outside in the courtyards, and also through windows.
About 650 patients, 500 healthcare workers, and an estimated 2,500 displaced people remain inside the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital compound – a significant reduction from the weekend when officials said 1,500 patients, 1,500 medical workers, and 7,000 displaced people were sheltering there.
Al-Shifa is under constant attack from tank shells and drones, with many dead bodies lying unburied in the courtyard. Those inside report being pinned down by Israeli sniper fire.
Al-Shifa surgeon Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya said: ‘We have no electricity except in the emergency section, the nursery section is out of service, the maternity hospital is out of service.
‘Yesterday five injured patients died because they were in need of surgery and we couldn’t conduct such surgeries. Today two have died. They were in a very serious condition and we couldn’t operate on them due to lack of electricity.
‘All our blood bank stock is over, all our MRIs are out of service, also dialysis equipment. For two days patients haven’t been through dialysis. The oxygen generator is not working.
‘We haven’t got a single drop of water and all the water tanks are on top of the hospital so now we can’t operate. Without water and electricity this is not a hospital any more. Our medical staff cannot offer services to any patient any more.
‘Yesterday, two newborns died, today a third one has died and now this is a very critical situation. Being a paediatrician I’m telling the world that these children, if they stay in the same condition, we will lose all of them within 48 hours because they need incubators that would regulate temperature, that is conducive to their age and their weight.
‘Special milk is unavailable for them. These children have very low immune systems, probably within 48 hours if they are not admitted to proper incubators we will lose them.
‘Also, the intensive care unit has been attacked. Eight patients could have been killed. However, fortunately they did not die. Now we are placing patients on the floors of the hospital without the minimum healthcare we can offer them.
‘We don’t have water, we don’t have electricity, no food. Children are being dehydrated and elderly patients are suffering malnutrition. This is a very bad situation by all means.’
