The World Health Organization (WHO) has described Gaza’s largest hospital as “nearly a cemetery.”
Al-Shifa hospital – which is located in the north of Gaza – has been at the front line of intense fighting over the last few days with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insisting that Hamas is operating a command-and-control centre in tunnels underneath the hospital. Hamas and the hospital deny this.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said about 600 people remained in the hospital, with others sheltering in hallways.
“Around the hospital there are dead bodies which cannot be taken care of or not even be buried or taken away to any sort of morgue,” he said. “The hospital is not working at all any more as it should. It’s nearly a cemetery,” Lindemeier added.
Doctors have also spoken of bodies piling up and rotting at the hospital.
Dr Mohamed Abu Selmia also told the BBC that as the Israeli authorities had still not granted permission for the decomposing bodies to leave the hospital to be buried, dogs had now entered the hospital grounds and started to eat the corpses.
There are also concerns about the fate of dozens of premature babies that are no longer able to stay in their incubators due to the power cuts.
Selmia said seven of those babies had now died for lack of oxygen.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was offering “practical solutions” to evacuate the babies and accused Hamas of not accepting proposals.
As well as Al-Shifa, other hospitals across the Gaza Strip have reported widespread issues, including a lack of supplies and power because of the fighting and the blockade Israel has enforced on the territory since Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on 7 October.
