Doctors in the Gaza Strip have warned that thousands of people will die as hospitals are overflowing with wounded people and running out of fuel for generators, food and basic medical supplies.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that at least 2.300 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes so far, including over 700 children, which is more than in the 2014 Gaza War which lasted for 6 months. This is the deadliest conflict on both sides of the five wars fought in Gaza so far. Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly 7.000 Palestinians have been wounded and injured, Al Jazeera reports.
More than 1.300 Israelis were killed in the October 7 attack by Hamas. About 150 of them, including children and women, were abducted by Hamas and taken to Gaza, writes Voice of America.
Hospitals in Gaza have fuel for generators for another day, putting the lives of thousands of patients at risk, the UN says. At Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, the intensive care units are full of injured patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with serious injuries are coming to the hospital where there will soon be no electricity, said Muhamed Kwandil, a consultant in intensive care. There are now 35 patients who need to be on ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. "If the fuel runs out, the entire health system will collapse, all patients will be at risk," Quandil said.
Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, head of pediatrics at Kamal Advan hospital in northern Gaza, did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. Seven babies are there in intensive care on ventilators. "I can't leave, that would mean death for them," said this pediatrician, as reported by the Voice of America.
The Shifa hospital in Gaza, which is the largest, says it will bury 100 dead in a mass grave, as there is no more room in the morgue, and people are unable to bury their loved ones. Tens of thousands of people use hospitals and hospital districts as a shelter from the constant Israeli bombardment.
There is already a humanitarian disaster in Gaza due to Israel's complete blockade. The UN warns that the mass exodus inside Gaza will lead to enormous human suffering. The World Health Organization has already warned that the evacuation of civilians from northern Gaza, which Israel claims is a "combat zone", would be a "death sentence" for more than 2.000 hospital patients.
About half a million people, a quarter of Gaza's population, are already internally displaced and living in unworthy conditions.
Israel's only concession so far, to the increasing pressure of the international community, was to start supplying water to Gaza again.
The Red Cross will not leave Gaza
The Red Cross said it was "horrified" at the human suffering left by the conflict between Hamas and Israel, saying its volunteers would not leave the scene and leave people in need. They called on both sides to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and allow humanitarian organizations to help.
"The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society is appalled by the amount of suffering in the last week in Israel and Gaza, where civilians are paying the ultimate price," the statement said.
"Nothing can justify the terrible loss of human life in Israel last week, but such a tragedy must not be a justification for the unlimited destruction of Gaza." We are very concerned about the call to leave Gaza. We refuse to leave and leave those who need help," the Red Cross states.
JH/Voice of America
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