Gaza hospitals run out of electricity as Israeli tanks close in
Patients including a baby have died and dozens more are at risk, according to Palestinian officials, as some of Gaza’s biggest hospitals run out of power and are encircled by Israeli forces.
Gaza’s biggest hospital, the Al-Shifa hospital in the north of the region – is in a state of chaos after Israeli troops reached the area.
Israel confirmed it had warned Gazans, many of whom had taken shelter at Al-Shifa, to leave the hospital so its army could engage with Hamas gunmen, who it claims have placed command centres in around and under the hospital (using patients as human shields).
Hamas has denied allegations their militants are stationed in hospitals.
Ashraf Al-Qidra, who represents the Hamas-controlled health ministry. said Israeli army snipers had positioned themselves on nearby rooftops and fired into the Al-Shifa.
A bombardment in northern Gaza on Friday night triggered a mass exodus with thousands of Palestinians beginning to walk southward, where the fighting is supposedly less intense, according to the Associated Press.
It was not clear how many remained at Al-Shifa although it seemed the vast majority had left by Saturday.
Hamas’ health ministry said those who remained are now “under siege”, with 39 premature babies at risk of dying.
They added: “Failure to bring fuel into the hospitals will be a death sentence for the rest. The incubators will only be able to work until this evening, after which the fuel will run out.”
Hospitals, including Al Shifa, reportedly had no electricity or fuel on Saturday.
“It’s totally a war zone, it’s a totally scary atmosphere here in the hospital,” Ahmed al-Mokhallalati, a senior plastic surgeon at Al Shifa Hospital, told Reuters.
“It’s continuous bombardment for more than 24 hours now, nothing stopped,” he added. “You know, it’s all from the tanks, from the street, from the airstrike.”
Hospitals like Al-Shifa were already overwhelmed by patients, with reports describing doctors performing surgeries without painkillers and using torches on their mobile phones for light.
A humanitarian organisation, the Palestine Red Cresent Society said that their staff were “trapped” inside another Gazan hospital in the north, Al-Quds.
“Israeli tanks and military vehicles surround the hospital from all sides, artillery shelling and intense shooting [were seen] at the hospital,” PRSC added.
The Israeli army has not immediately commented on the reports.
A spokesperson from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had previously said: “The hospitals need to be evacuated in order to deal with Hamas. We intend on dealing with Hamas who have turned hospitals into fortified positions.”
The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said the responsibility for any civilian casualties lies with Hamas.
He said, while Israel has urged civilians to leave combat zones, “Hamas is doing everything it can to prevent them from leaving.”
Since Hamas’ deadly rampage in Israel on 7 October that killed 1,200 people, at least 11,000 have died in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Meanwhile, France’s president Emmanuel Macron said in a BBC interview on Friday night “there is no justification” for bombing civilians in Gaza, as he continued to urge Israel to work towards a ceasefire.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken told reporters on a visit to India: “Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks.”
Israel later confirmed they would begin daily four-hour pauses in the northern part of Gaza – although American President Joe Biden said he had asked the country for longer pauses.
The United National warned earlier this week that the humanitarian situation and the lives of nearly one million people are “hanging by a thread”.
