The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its deep concern on Tuesday for hospitals still partially functioning in the north of the Gaza Strip, where an establishment director described to Agence France-Presse (AFP) a “extreme disaster”. “We are very, very worried, and it is more and more difficult to deliver aid [et] specialized personnel, while the needs are increasingly important”declared Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the WHO, to journalists in Geneva.
This concern, she 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 at the beginning of 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 telephone by AFP.
“We are starting to lose patients due to lack of medical supplies and staff”continues the doctor who affirms that his establishment was “targeted multiple times by occupying forces, most recently” Monday. “Large numbers of children and elderly people continue to arrive at hospital suffering from malnutrition”adds Mr. Abou Safiyeh, who accuses Israel of “block the entry of food, water, medical personnel and equipment to the north” of the Gaza Strip.
“Between November 8 and 16, four WHO missions (…) were refused »specified Mme Harris, believing that the hospital only has enough to last “two weeks in the best case”. Cogat, the body of the Israeli Ministry of Defense responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, nevertheless ensures that the “humanitarian efforts in the medical field continue” in the north of the Gaza Strip.
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