ENB- Hundreds of patients and medical staff are still trapped at Gaza’s biggest hospital, cut off from all links to the outside world for more than three days.
Palestinian health authorities said they are increasingly afraid for the lives of those trapped in the Shifa hospital as the Israeli army continues to besiege the health facility for the third consecutive day.
Thousands of people have fled al-Shifa hospital so far. But health officials said the hundreds of patients were dying due to energy shortages amid intense fighting.
At least 32 patients, including three premature babies, had died over the past three days, Gaza’s health ministry said. Life-saving equipment such as incubators cannot run without fuel to run generators.
“Yesterday I had 39 babies. And today they have become 36,” Dr Mohamed Tabasha, head of the paediatric department at Shifa, said in a telephone interview on Monday with Reuters. “I cannot say how long they can last. I can lose another two babies today, or in an hour.”
Israel has imposed what it calls a “complete siege” on Gaza for more than a month. It also denyed medical supplies’ entry.
The Israeli military said it allowed safe corridors for people to escape intense fighting in the north and move south. But Palestinian officials inside Shifa said the compound was surrounded by constant heavy gunfire.
