Palestine Gaza's Largest Medical Facility Isolated by Fighting... "Power Has Been Cut Off"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Amid the battles between the Israeli military and Hamas militants, Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, has become completely isolated, with power cut off, leading to the deaths of patients reliant on medical equipment.

According to foreign media on the 11th (local time), residents reported that Israeli forces and Hamas militants fought near Gaza City, where Al-Shifa Hospital is located, from the previous night through the entire day. The Gaza Strip Ministry of Health stated that the hospital's maternity ward was bombed, resulting in one death and several injuries.

According to doctors at the hospital, since the Israeli missile strike on the 10th, the hospital has been isolated with power, internet, drinking water, and medical supplies cut off.

The Israeli human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) also reported in the afternoon, citing hospital officials at Al-Shifa, that the power outage halted operations in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), causing the deaths of two premature infants and putting the lives of 37 other premature babies at risk.

The Israeli military has been conducting concentrated airstrikes on four hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa, and has deployed ground forces since the previous day.

The Israeli military acknowledged engaging Hamas militants around Al-Shifa Hospital but denied directly attacking the hospital.

Meanwhile, Al-Shifa Hospital remains one of the few hospitals still partially operational in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military has continued air and ground attacks for over a month. The hospital has 700 beds but once housed nearly 60,000 patients and refugees. Most appear to have left the hospital before the fighting intensified.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.