Israel's Criminal Attacks on Gaza Hospitals
Al-Shifa Hospital, April 1, 2024, following seige by Israeli military.
The World Health Organization (WHO) led a multi-agency mission which accessed Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on April 5 to conduct a preliminary assessment of the extent of destruction and identify needs to guide future efforts to restore the facility. Al-Shifa was besieged by the Israeli military for two-weeks, from March 18 to April 1, with many doctors executed and the buildings left in ruins. The Zionists, attempting to terrorize families, killed young children in front of their parents, forced people to leave then slaughtered them in what were called "safe" zones. More than 65 families were forced to leave the area around the hospital complex, then subjected to rape and killing.
Al-Shifa Hospital -- once the largest and most important referral hospital in Gaza -- is now an empty shell after the latest siege. The hospital's emergency department, surgical, and maternity wards are extensively damaged due to explosives and fire. At least 115 beds in what once was the emergency department have been burnt and 14 incubators in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit destroyed, among other assets. An indepth assessment by a team of engineers is needed to determine if these buildings are safe for future use. The hospital's oxygen plant has been destroyed. WHO staff witnessed at least five bodies lying partially covered on the ground, exposed to the heat. The team reported a pungent smell of decomposing bodies engulfing the hospital compound.
A further report on Reliefweb, provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated:
"Members
of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitorfield team were present inside
Al-Shifa Medical Complex during the Israeli army’s attack and its
aftermath. About a week after the end of the military operation, during
the recovery of dozens of victims’ remains, Euro-Med Monitor
documented horrific scenes of body parts strewn on the ground as well
as human remains inside a large pit dug by Israeli forces in the
courtyard of one of Al-Shifa’s hospitals.
"According to
ongoing Euro-Med Monitor investigations, which include dozens of
testimonies documented during and after Israel’s operation, the
Israeli army committed many serious crimes against every Palestinian in
the vicinity, including the murder and execution of hundreds of
civilians. The fate of dozens of missing individuals is still unknown
today."
Al-Shifa Hospital and surrounding
neighbourhood, April 1, 2024
On the same day, another WHO-led mission bound for Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza to deliver medical supplies, fuel and to deploy emergency medical teams and support referral of critical patients, encountered unnecessary delays, including the detention of the driver of a supply truck that was part of the convoy. He was detained for over an hour at a location out of view of the mission team. Between mid-October and the end of March, over half of all WHO missions have been denied, delayed, impeded or postponed.
The WHO notes that of the 36 main hospitals that used to serve over 2 million Gazans, only 10 remain somewhat functional, with severe limitations on the types of services they can deliver. The proposed military incursion into Rafah by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) can only result in further reduction of access to health care and would have unimaginable health consequences, the WHO points out, adding that the systematic dismantling of health care must end.
The WHO again repeated its calls for the protection of patients, health and humanitarian workers, health infrastructure, and civilians. Hospitals must not be militarized, misused, or attacked, it said.
In Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis on March 24, the IDF attacked Al-Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals, laying siege to both facilities with a large force of troops and vehicles, as warplanes bombarded the city. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the many thousands seeking refuge in the hospitals were in extreme danger, as were their workers.
Drones with loudspeakers demanded that all those present leave the hospital without their clothes, while troops launched smoke bombs to force people out. At the same time aerial bombardments and artillery shelling relentlessly targeted the area and Khan Yunis.
These crimes are noted and condemned by the Palestinian resistance and the world's people.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 26 - April 15, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54266.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca