Israeli tanks surrounded a hospital in Gaza, the hospital’s director told reporters. CNN. The largest health facility in the Palestinian territory was also the target of an alleged “bombing” this Friday (10), according to the World Health Organization (WHO), increasing fears that Israel’s military campaign will put patients and medical staff in the Gaza Strip in even more danger.
Mustafa al-Kahlout, who runs Al Nasr hospital and Al Rantisi pediatric hospital in northern Gaza, told CNN that they were surrounded by tanks and asked the Red Cross for help to evacuate the place.
“We are completely surrounded, there are tanks outside the hospital and we cannot leave,” said al-Kahlout.
The hospital complex is close to the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and the Al Shati camp, where ground fighting has been confirmed by both the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas.
“We don’t have electricity, we don’t have oxygen for patients, we don’t have medicine and water,” said al-Kahlout. “We don’t know our destiny.”
The director’s appeal comes after reports of attacks near several other hospitals in northern Gaza, including al-Shifa hospital, the territory’s largest medical facility.
A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that al-Shifa was “being bombed”, and that 20 hospitals in the Gaza Strip were “not functioning”.
Asked about a potential Israeli airstrike on al-Shifa hospital on Friday, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters: “I don’t have details about al-Shifa, but we know it is being bombed.”
Several videos on social media showed injured people in what was described as the al-Shifa outpatient clinic.
It’s unclear what hit the hospital, but videos show injured people lying on the floor of the open-air clinic. Witnesses in the videos say there were attacks in the area. A CNN was unable to verify whether these were airstrikes and contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
In a statement on Facebook, Al Awda hospital in northern Gaza said that due to the “targeting [na] neighborhood of Al Awda Hospital… and the neighborhood of Indonesian Hospital” by Israeli forces, 10 of its employees were injured, infrastructure was hit and nine vehicles were impacted.
This included “two ambulances that were completely damaged,” the hospital statement said.
In another statement, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), associated with the Red Cross, said one of its volunteers was injured and two ambulances were rendered unusable by the attack near Al Awda hospital.
The group also shared images and a video of two ambulances with broken windshields in what appears to be the hospital parking lot. It was not immediately clear whether both statements referred to the same ambulances.
The Israeli Army has not commented on the incidents, but has repeatedly called on civilians to move south of the Gaza Strip as it intensifies its attack on Gaza City and the north of the territory.
The Israeli military said that Hamas is infiltrated into civilian infrastructure and that it will continue to attack Hamas “whenever necessary.” A CNN cannot independently verify these claims.
Most of Gaza’s hospitals have stopped working
Israel began its offensive against Gaza after Hamas attacks on October 7, which left 1,400 Israelis dead. Since then, the Israeli military has intensified its campaign in northern Gaza in recent days, effectively separating the territory in two, with the fiercest ground operations and airstrikes concentrated in the north.
But the impact on health facilities has raised concerns about the dire humanitarian situation of those remaining in northern Gaza. Most of the hospitals in Gaza – 18 out of 35 – have stopped working, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which publishes figures for the territory controlled by Hamas.
Additionally, 71% of all primary care facilities closed due to damage or lack of fuel, the ministry said. The statement states that hospitals that remain open are limited in what they can provide and are phasing out work on wards.
Volker Türk, the United Nations’ top human rights official, raised doubts about Israel’s unilateral establishment of “safe zones” in Gaza, saying on Friday that nowhere within the territory was safe for civilians.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
Streams of Palestinians – including women, children and the elderly – head south in a growing exodus along the daily humanitarian corridors announced by the Israeli military.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this Friday that “too many Palestinians have been killed, too many have suffered in recent weeks” – one of his most direct condemnations of the deaths of civilians that Israel has been causing in Gaza.
See also: What the next steps will be like in the repatriation of Brazilians in the Gaza Strip
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
