‘Dire and perilous’: World Health Organization says Gaza’s main hospital no longer functioning

The head of the World Health Organization says that Gaza’s largest hospital is “not functioning as a hospital any more.” 

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Doctor Tedros Ghebreyesus said the Shifa hospital had been without electricity for the last three days, “without water and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care.” 

“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,” he wrote. 

Meanwhile the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that Israeli bombardments and armed clashes around Shifa hospital have “intensified” since Saturday afternoon. 

“Critical infrastructure, including the oxygen station, water tanks and a well, the cardiovascular facility, and the maternity ward, was damaged, and three nurses killed,” the agency said. 

It added that some staff and patients have managed to flee while others are trapped inside. 

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed urgent calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all the nearly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in the 7 October rampage that triggered the war.

A day after Netanyahu said Israel was bringing its “full force” with the aim of ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza, residents reported heavy airstrikes and shelling, including around Shifa Hospital. 

Israel, without providing evidence, has accused Hamas of concealing a command post inside and under the compound, allegations denied by Hamas and hospital staff.

“They are outside, not far from the gates,” said Ahmed al-Boursh, a resident sheltering there.

The hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying.

Israel’s military asserted it placed 300 litres of fuel near Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. But the military said Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.

Israel’s military said on Sunday it would assist in moving babies from the hospital, but UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, which has supported Shifa’s neonatal intensive care unit, said transferring critically ill infants is complex. 

“With ambulances unable to reach the hospital … and no hospital with capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely,” CEO Melanie Ward said.

The only option is for Israel to stop its assault and allow fuel into the hospital, Ward said.

Meanwhile the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said another Gaza City hospital, Al-Quds, is “no longer operational” because it was out of fuel with 6,000 people trapped there. 

Gaza’s sole power plant shut down a month ago, and Israel has barred fuel imports to prevent Hamas from using them.

One woman fleeing northern Gaza, Fedaa Shangan, said she’d had a cesarean section at Al-Quds: “The wound is still fresh.” She said the Israeli army near the hospital “did not care about the presence of patients, children, women and the elderly. They did not care about anyone.”