The WHO says only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially operational after 15 months of Israeli attacks.
After a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended more than 15 months of war in Gaza, Dr. Jamal Salaha spoke of the relief he felt when the deaths and injuries finally stopped to flock to his hospital.
“It was the first time that the hospital reception or emergency department was empty,” Salaha, a general practitioner at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, told Tel Aviv Tribune on Monday. in central Gaza.
The day before, the ceasefire ended 471 days of incessant Israeli attacks that killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and injured more than 111,000 people.
Salaha had just started working at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City when war broke out in October 2023.
He worked in the neurosurgery department for 33 days before being forced to move to Al-Aqsa Hospital due to Israeli attacks.
Throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, Salaha said he had only three days off and treated people in appalling conditions.
“Every day we receive injured people, most of them in critical condition,” he said. “We did a lot of surgeries…including some on the ground because we didn’t have enough capacity. We were (often) operating without gloves, without enough medication, and without ventilators.
When the ceasefire was announced, Salaha described it as “incredible” news and said he could finally sleep more soundly.
But he remains cautious about the future, citing the extent of the damage in the Gaza Strip, the collapse of its health system and the possibility of a resumption of violence.
“There is joy and enthusiasm (because of the ceasefire) everywhere, and people believe that this ceasefire will return life to normal. But that’s not true,” Salaha said. “The state of hospitals is very chaotic.”
“We need a lot of medicines and medical supplies to treat all the (remaining) cases. »
The World Health Organization said Monday that only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remained partially operational.
Almost all hospitals are damaged and only 38 percent of primary health care centers are functional, the statement added.
In most areas of the coastal enclave, the ceasefire appears to be holding despite reports of isolated incidents of violence.
At least eight people were injured by Israeli forces in Rafah in the south, according to Tel Aviv Tribune Arabic.
Mohammad Nemnem, a medical worker at the now-decommissioned Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, described the extent of the damage after Israeli forces “burned and destroyed” the facility.
“No department in the hospital can provide medical service,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“The hospital needs massive efforts and a lot of time to once again become a hospital capable of providing medical services to the population. »
