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Only nine out of 36 health facilities were partially functional
in the whole of Gaza, according to the WHO. All these facilities
are concentrated in the enclave's south.
"There are actually no functional hospitals left in the north,"
Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters
via video link from Jerusalem.
"Al-Ahli (Hospital) was the last one but it is now minimally
functional: still treating patients but not admitting new ones."
Describing it as a "shell of a hospital", Peeperkorn said Al-Ahli
resembled a hospice providing very limited care. About 10 staff,
all junior doctors and nurses, continue to provide basic first
aid, pain management and wound care with scant resources, he
said.
"Until two days ago, it was the only hospital where injured
people could get surgery in northern Gaza and that was
overwhelmed with patients needing emergency care," he said.
"There are no operating theatres anymore due to the lack of
fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers, including
surgeons and other specialists."
The bodies of victims from recent Israeli attacks were lined up
in the hospital's courtyard because they could not be given safe
and dignified burials, he said.
In addition to Al-Ahli Hospital, northern Gaza had only three
other minimally functioning health facilities: Al-Shifa, Al Awda
and Al Sahaba hospitals, which Peeperkorn said were sheltering
thousands of displaced people.
Some patients at Al-Ahli had been waiting for surgeries for
weeks or if they had been operated on, they faced the risk of a
post-operation infection due to lack of antibiotics and other
drugs, he added.
"All these patients cannot move and need to be transferred
urgently to have a chance to survive," he said, reiterating the
WHO's call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
"This is needed now to reinforce and restock remaining health
facilities, deliver medical services needed by thousands of
injured people and those needing other essential care, and,
above all, to stop the bloodshed and death."
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Rachel More
and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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