WHO said that Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital is a "death zone." The health organization shared this statement to describe the hospital after the United Nations conducted its high-risk assessment mission in the Gaza Strip.
The World Health Organization said that it led the joint UN humanitarian assessment team, which visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Nov. 19. WHO said that this dangerous mission was needed to check the situation in the hospital. Here's what WHO and UN saw after visiting the Al-Shifa hospital.
WHO Calls Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital 'Death Zone'
An aerial view shows the compound of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 7, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
According to Politico's latest report, the WHO-led UN assessment mission includes logistic officers, security staff, and public health experts from UNOCHA, UNMAS, UNRWA, UNOPS, and UNDSS.
"This was a high-risk operation in an active conflict zone, with heavy fighting ongoing in close proximity to the hospital," said WHO via its official X announcement post.
"Due to time limits associated with the security situation, the team was able to spend only one hour inside the hospital, which they described as a 'death zone' and the situation as 'desperate,'" added the health organization.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared what the high-risk assessment team saw. He confirmed that Al-Shifa-the largest hospital in Gaza-no longer has water, food, fuel, and electricity.
He added that medical supplies are also starting to deplete. Because of this, Tedros said that health workers are requesting support to evacuate patients who greatly need lifesaving care.
The WHO director-general promised that they would work with partners to create an urgent evacuation plan and ask for full facilitation of this initiative.
He also said that they are calling for the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip and patients at the Al-Shifa hospital since the current situation is becoming more and more unjustifiable and unbearable.
Al-Shifa's Exact Status
Patients and internally displaced people are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Heavy fighting was raging near Al-Shifa hospital, with Israel saying it had killed dozens of militants.
WHO said that Al-Shifa only has 25 health workers. These staff are definitely not enough to handle almost 300 patients who are in the Gaza-based hospital.
The health organization also said that several patients already died over the past two to three days because of a lack of medical services.
As of writing, there are 32 babies in extremely critical condition, two adult patients who are in need of intensive care, and 22 dialysis who are under life-saving treatment.
The remaining patients are victims of war trauma; many of them suffer from amputations, burns, chest and abdominal trauma, as well as head injuries.
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