UN officials visit a hospital in Gaza and describe it as a “death zone”

A group of humanitarian workers from the United Nations (UN) visited Al-Shifa hospital, in northern Gaza, last Saturday (18), the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The group spent an hour inside the hospital, at a time when intense fighting broke out near the facility, the WHO said.

Officials described the hospital as a “death zone” where “signs of shelling and gunfire were evident.”

The team saw a mass grave at the hospital entrance and were told that more than 80 people were buried there.

The WHO cited that several patients have died in the last two to three days due to lack of medical services.

“There are 25 healthcare workers and 291 patients remaining in Al-Shifa, with several patient deaths occurring in the previous two to three days due to the closure of medical services,” he wrote.

He added: “The patients include 32 babies in an extremely critical condition, two people in intensive care without ventilation and 22 dialysis patients whose access to life-saving treatment has been severely compromised.”

Staff and patients who spoke to UN officials were “terrified for their safety and health,” the organization said. The WHO also expressed that it “begged for evacuation”.

According to the organization, they are “urgently developing plans” to evacuate staff and patients to two hospitals in southern Gaza.

“The vast majority of patients are victims of war trauma, including many with complex fractures and amputations, head injuries, burns, chest and abdominal trauma. And 29 patients with severe spinal injuries who cannot move without medical assistance.”

“Many trauma patients present with severely infected wounds due to the lack of infection control measures in the hospital and the unavailability of antibiotics.”

See also: Images show destruction in Gaza’s largest hospital

Images show destruction in Gaza’s largest hospital | CNN NEW DAY