Aid groups describe ‘unimaginable’ situation in packed Gaza hospitals
Emergency medical teams say that Israeli restrictions have led to a shortage of basic supplies such as gauze.
Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an “unimaginable” situation in which large open wounds were left untreated.
An emergency medical team organised by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis.
The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year.
There are also an estimated 22,000 people sheltering at the European Gaza Hospital.
The visiting surgeons “reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardising patient treatment.”
In a statement released on Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters and has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war.
Most of Gaza’s hospitals have been forced to shut down, even as scores are killed and wounded each day in Israeli strikes.
At least 30 Palestinians were killed after Israeli strikes hit the city of Rafah on Sunday through to Monday.
The southern city is home to some 1.4 million people, more than half of Gaza’s population, with many having fled to the city to escape fighting elsewhere.
Israel ordered Palestinians to move south in the opening months of the war but has continued to carry out strikes in all parts of the territory, including Rafah.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has urged Israel against launching a major operation in Rafah, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and experts warn that even more are at risk of dying from disease and starvation.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people.
The emergency medical team was organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
