WHO: "Central Hospital in Gaza Strip Also Paralyzed"

by Kwon Haeyoung

Published 08 Jan.2024 21:15(KST)

Let's Go, My Medical System Collapse

As clashes continue between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, the medical infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is collapsing.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 8th (local time), the only hospital in central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Hospital, was bombed the previous day, causing most of the medical staff and patients to evacuate. The number of evacuees is around 600.

The healthcare system in northern Gaza has already collapsed. There are no hospitals providing full medical services such as surgeries, and a small number of medical personnel are reported to be performing only basic emergency care. In southern Gaza, 12 hospitals are operating, but as refugees flood in, each hospital is caring for more than three times its capacity. Among them, WHO pointed out that Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central city of Al-Bala is virtually non-functional.

WHO and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) officials visited Al-Aqsa Hospital the previous day to assess the situation. Some medical staff were treating emergency patients on the hospital floor, but most of the medical personnel and patients had left the hospital.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Al-Aqsa Hospital is the most important medical facility in central Gaza and must maintain its life-saving functions," adding, "Weakening such functions will provoke outrage."