Conditions in north Gaza hospital ‘appalling’: WHO chief
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WHO had warned earlier in December that the Kamal Adwan hospital was operating at a “minimum” level.
PHOTO: AFP
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GENEVA - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Dec 16 that a humanitarian team finally reached one of northern Gaza’s only functioning hospitals at the weekend to deliver fuel, food and medicine, and found “appalling” conditions.
Kamal Adwan Hospital is located in Beit Lahia, a city at the centre of an intense Israeli military operation aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping in northern Gaza.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X that after multiple attempts, the UN health agency and partners reached the facility “two days ago, amid hostilities and explosions in the vicinity of the hospital during the mission”.
The team, he said, had “delivered 5,000 litres of fuel, food and medicine, and transferred three patients and six companions to Al-Shifa”, the Palestinian territory’s main hospital.
Kamal Adwan is one of the last operational medical facilities in the north of the war-ravaged territory, with the WHO warning earlier in December that it was operating at a “minimum” level.
The agency said efforts to deliver desperately needed supplies have been repeatedly hampered.
Earlier in December, it said a mission reached the hospital on Nov 30 after weeks of unsuccessful attempts, bringing aid and an international emergency team, including surgeons and other specialists.
But days later, that team was among large numbers who fled the hospital amid heavy hostilities around the facility.
“This has left the hospital without specialised personnel for surgical and maternal care,” Dr Tedros warned, adding that the attacks have resulted in further damage to the facility and its oxygen and electricity supplies.
“The conditions in the hospital are simply appalling,” he said. “We urge for the protection of healthcare and for this hell to stop. Ceasefire!”
The war was sparked by Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel
Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 45,000 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry that the UN considers reliable. AFP
