Health services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, have collapsed, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF). In the absence of a ceasefire, hospitals and health centers in southern and central Gaza are facing a fate similar to those in the North. After prolonged sieges by Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF), evacuation orders are issued for the areas where hospitals are located, forcing health personnel, patients, and displaced people to leave.
Those who stay behind face the risk of being shot or kidnapped when the IOF storm the grounds. Over 300 patients, unable to evacuate from Nasser Hospital, along with a handful of staff, are exposed to such danger. Their lives are further endangered due to the shortage of essential supplies exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid.
An MSF nurse still at Nasser Hospital described how surgical gauze is running out, preventing health workers from sharing resources across hospital rooms. To save supplies, nurses and doctors are now reusing the same gauze on multiple patients.
“They use it once, they squeeze out the blood, wash it, sterilize it, and reuse it with another patient,” the nurse explained.
Even before the MSF announcement, the situation at Nasser Hospital was dire. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned about reports indicating that health workers at Nasser were digging graves on hospital grounds, anticipating many dead with no alternative way to care for the bodies. These events, coupled with overcrowded shelters and inadequate sanitation infrastructure, contribute to the growing cases of infectious diseases in Gaza. Hepatitis A alone has seen a 16-fold increase in suspected cases compared to November 2023, according to UNRWA.
Read more: Israeli destruction of health infrastructure in Gaza places women and newborns in danger
Other hospitals in Khan Younis and nearby regions are facing a similar fate as Nasser Hospital. MSF notes that the European Hospital is unreachable due to evacuation orders for the surrounding area. Al-Amal Hospital, associated with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has been under siege for the past six days, preventing it from receiving the wounded amidst continuous bombardment.
As attacks on Palestinian health infrastructure persist, Israeli officials attempt to spin the situation on the ground. While the siege of Al-Amal Hospital was already under way for several days, one official referred to the hospital as a positive example of how the IOF allows health services in Palestine to function. Her claims remain unsubstantiated by credible evidence, unlike reports from PRCS and organizations like MSF.
Israeli officials have made similar unsubstantiated statements regarding health in northern Gaza, including allegations of the military use of hospitals and health centers. Limited health services have been restored in the North and WHO missions have visited the area since then. UN field officers reaffirmed there is no proof that the medical aid delivered is used for anything but health care provision.
“I have no evidence of supplies that have been delivered to hospitals going anywhere except to those hospitals,” said Sean Casey, a WHO team member who took part in several missions inside Gaza over the past month. Casey’s observations corroborate testimonies given earlier in the war by local and international health workers, who asserted they had never seen weapons or tunnels in the hospitals of Gaza, despite working there for years.
Read more: Fate of Palestinian health workers kidnapped by Israeli forces remains uncertain
Although the WHO noted a decrease in people sheltering in hospitals in northern Gaza, including Al-Shifa Hospital, the danger persists. Health workers continue to be targeted by the IOF. In the week of January 22, Israeli snipers shot Hossam Hamada, formerly head of Al-Shifa’s pathology department, leaving him to bleed out in the street – no one was able to help him due to the sniper still targeting the area.
The findings of the WHO team are included in a report on the health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories submitted by Director-General Tedros to the organization’s Executive Board this week. Many addressing the topic expressed outrage at Israel’s unprecedented violation of international humanitarian law.
Among them, a delegate from Cuba reasserted the call for an immediate ceasefire, which is also included on the list of recommendations in the report. But, she added, a ceasefire can only be the first step towards rebuilding the health system in Gaza and providing reparations – it will have to be followed by international support for the self-determination of Palestinians.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
