War on Gaza: Israeli-besieged hospital in north facing 'catastrophe', say medical staff
Medical staff at the besieged Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza have described the situation as “catastrophic,” with the lives of children in its overcrowded intensive care unit (ICU) at risk amid dwindling fuel and medical supplies.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces issued expulsion orders for three major hospitals - Kamal Adwan, al-Awda and the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza - where it has launched a major offensive, trapping over 300 critically ill patients, according to the UN.
Kamal Adwan has since been under Israeli siege, with live ammunition and smoke grenades firing in its vicinity.
The hospital's director, Dr Husam Abu Safiyeh, refused to comply with the expulsion orders as he said transporting the patients could prove deadly for them.
According to Dr Eid Sabah, the director of the nursing department, there are about 50 patients trapped in the hospital, including nine ICU patients, most of whom are children.
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“These nine patients’ lives are at very serious risk due to the lack of fuel and the siege,” Sabah told MEE.
“Fuel is running out which will impact the electricity generators and ventilators,” he added.
'We are facing a genuine health disaster if fuel is not delivered, as it would result in a catastrophe'
- Kamal Adwan hospital staff
The Palestinian Ministry of Health published a video on Friday from the hospital’s staff urgently appealing for fuel, warning that they will run out in about 24 hours which may lead to the death of the children in the ICU.
Israeli forces have blocked aid access to northern hospitals.
“We are now talking about a sensitive department that provides advanced health services, and we have 24 hours left. It’s not just Kamal Adwan Hospital; Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals are also on the verge of running out of the remaining fuel,” the hospital staff said in the video message.
“We are facing a genuine health disaster if fuel is not delivered, as it would result in a catastrophe.”
Sabah reported that some newborn babies had been evacuated by ambulance to a hospital in Gaza City, but the paramedics transporting them had been arrested by Israeli forces, despite coordination efforts.
‘The coming hours will be decisive’
The hospital is the only medical facility in northern Gaza offering specialised services for children and intensive care.
The staff reported that they had recently been inundated with casualties after an Israeli attack on the Al Naji area.
“There are dozens of injuries that require therapeutic intervention and advanced surgical procedures, including neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and general surgery,” they added.
The Ministry of Health sent a final appeal for fuel and food to be allowed into northern Gaza, warning that, “the coming hours will be decisive for the lives of many children in the intensive care unit,” and calling on the international community to intervene.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported that a WHO team was barred from conducting a medical evacuation of patients from Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals due to delays of over 10 hours at Israeli checkpoints.
He added that this week, seven WHO missions to northern Gaza were denied or impeded, and called on Israel to “stop evacuation orders and protect hospitals”.
“North Gaza has barely any health services left,” Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
On 10 October, a United Nations commission of inquiry found that Israel had implemented a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system,” which amounts to a war crime. It said that Israeli forces have “deliberately killed, detained and tortured medical personnel”.
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