Hosni Nedim
06 November 2024•Update: 06 November 2024
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza warned on Wednesday evening that it is struggling to care for dozens of injured people in extreme conditions, citing severe medical supply shortages and ongoing Israeli attacks in the region for more than a month.
Al-Awda Hospital Director Mohammad Saleha told Anadolu that the hospital has been facing “a critical shortage of medicines and medical supplies for more than three months, compounded by a fuel supply cut that has hindered the facility’s operations for a month.”
On Wednesday morning, the hospital’s small generator, which had been providing minimal operational support, broke down due to a fuel shortage.
“We were forced to use the main generator, which consumes more fuel, but it was necessary to conduct four surgeries for critically injured patients,” Saleha noted.
The hospital has received “several deceased and dozens of injured since morning, including critical cases, as ambulance services in the area have halted,” he said.
He attributed the shortage of ambulances to “targeted attacks by Israeli forces on all emergency vehicles, including those from Al-Awda, Kamal Adwan hospitals, and civil defense units.”
“This deliberate targeting of ambulances and crews has forced civilians to transport the wounded to hospitals on foot, by shoulder, or using makeshift carts—endangering lives due to delayed medical care,” he added.
Regarding surgeries in the current situation, Saleha explained that the only surgeon in northern Gaza has already performed two surgeries since morning and continues to operate on additional critical cases.
He called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to urgently facilitate fuel, medicines, medical supplies, and food for patients and staff, saying such support is crucial to maintaining services in northern Gaza amid the genocidal war.
The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping amid a suffocating siege on the area.
Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, was allowed by the Israeli army into the area, leaving most of the population there on the verge of imminent starvation.
More than 1,800 people have been killed since then, according to Palestinian health authorities. Food and other aid are severely limited.
The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 43,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,340 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio
