The WHO says it is “very, very concerned” about the situation of the hospitals that are still partially functioning in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday expressed deep concern about hospitals still partially functioning in the northern Gaza Strip, where the director of one facility described to Agence France-Presse (AFP) a “extreme disaster”. “We are very, very worried and it is increasingly difficult to deliver help. [et] specialized personnel, while the needs are increasingly important”WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva.
This concern, he added, is “particularly” Acute for the Kamal-Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, an area where the Israeli army launched a major offensive in early October against fighters from the Islamist movement Hamas and other armed groups. “The situation in northern Gaza is one of extreme disaster”testifies Hossam Abou Safiyeh, director of this establishment contacted by phone by AFP.
“We are starting to lose patients due to lack of medical supplies and personnel”continues the doctor, who states that his establishment was “Attacked several times by the occupation forces, most recently” Monday. “A large number of children and the elderly continue to arrive at hospitals malnourished”adds Abou Safiyeh, who accuses Israel of “block the entry of food, water, personnel and medical equipment to the north” from the Gaza Strip.
“Between November 8 and 16, four WHO missions (…) were rejected »specified Mme Harris, believing that the hospital only has enough to last “two weeks at best”. Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, however assures that “Humanitarian efforts continue in the medical field” in the north of the Gaza Strip.
