Israeli warplanes and tanks are circling hospitals in the Gaza Strip as health facilities come under increasing attack.
Attacks on hospital complexes not only affect thousands of patients, but also an estimated 122,000 displaced Palestinians sheltering in these facilities during Israel’s relentless bombardment.
On Friday, the threat to many hospitals in Gaza increased further.
Here is how hospitals are targeted:
Which hospitals are surrounded by tanks?
The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli tanks surrounded four hospitals from all directions on Friday. These are al-Rantisi Hospital, al-Nasr Hospital and the eye and mental hospitals.
Around 1,000 people are seeking shelter at al-Rantisi, Gaza’s only hospital specializing in treating children with cancer. Israel recently struck vehicles outside al-Rantisi, located in northern Gaza.
Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital.
No caption needed‼️#Gaza_Genocide pic.twitter.com/gK0C6WiEs7— 𓂆 Khalil in Gaza🇵🇸 (@khalilo1) November 10, 2023
A video has surfaced on social media, apparently shot by people inside the hospital, that shows they are unsure whether to evacuate, given the instances in this war of people fleeing areas dangerous places were bombed.
pic.twitter.com/lThYWJMNER
رسالة من داخل مستشفى الرنتيسي– طوفان الأقصى (@Afcq1954) November 10, 2023
“Israel is turning its back on the international community and continuing its crimes against hospitals, health centers and accommodation centers throughout the Gaza Strip,” Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said in a press release cited by the Wafa press agency.
What about al-Shifa Hospital?
The al-Shifa hospital complex, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, was hit by an Israeli missile overnight, and it was not a one-off strike.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said Friday that Israel had bombed the al-Shifa hospital buildings five times since Thursday evening.
The hospital has been a repeated Israeli target over the past month. World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris warned the hospital was “being bombed”.
“You can hear a lot of gunshots, and then you know the tanks are getting closer to al-Shifa hospital,” Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati, a surgeon from al-Shifa, told Al Jazeera.
Medical student Ezudine Lulu posted a warning on Instagram in a video Friday afternoon: “It is possible that the entire hospital will be bombed within a few hours. »
Al-Shifa is the largest hospital complex in the Gaza Strip. While al-Shifa has a capacity to accommodate 700 patients, it currently treats around 5,000, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF).
Israel has alleged that Hamas uses al-Shifa for military purposes. Hamas has rejected these claims, saying al-Shifa is home to more than 40,000 displaced people in Gaza.
Over the past week, al-Shifa has been repeatedly attacked with Israeli missiles hitting ambulances and solar panels, as the Israeli siege causes fuel shortages.
What is the impact on hospital functions?
Several hospital services were targeted by Israel, compromising hospital functions and damaging buildings and equipment.
According to al-Qudra, Israel this week bombed the maternity ward and outpatient clinics in al-Shifa.
Gaza is under total blockade by Israel. Al-Shifa was denied urgent supplies of medicine and fuel. Fuel shortages threaten the operation of generators, which run vital equipment like ventilators and dialysis machines.
An unprecedented influx of injured patients, coupled with rapidly depleting medical supplies, leaves surgeons with no choice but to operate on patients on the floor, without anesthesia or pain relief.
“It’s painful for the medical team. It’s not simple. Either the patient suffers or loses his life,” said Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director general of al-Shifa Hospital.
Al-Rantisi and al-Shifa are located in northern Gaza. UN humanitarian office spokesman Jens Laerke said aid entering Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt could not enter northern Gaza. He urged Israel to reopen the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known in Hebrew as the Kerem Shalom crossing, which lies at the junction of Gaza’s border with Egypt and Israel, to allow the passage of a greater amount of help.
What has happened so far?
Twenty-one of Gaza’s 35 hospitals with inpatient services have stopped operating, either due to damage from bombings and airstrikes or lack of fuel, the Gaza Health Ministry said .
The Israeli strikes targeted the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Al-Quds Hospital as well as two Palestinian Red Crescent Society centers in Jabalia and Gaza City, the UN Office for Coordination reported humanitarian affairs. The Gaza Ministry of Health was also targeted.
On October 18, nearly 500 people were killed in an airstrike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s health ministry said the explosion was caused by an Israeli air raid. Israel attributed the explosion to a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
What does international law say about attacks on hospitals?
International humanitarian law based on the 1949 Geneva Conventions considers hospitals to be protected civilian objects.
However, the 1977 Additional Protocols to the conventions provide for some exceptions to this rule. Article 13 specifies that medical units lose their special protection if they “are used to commit, outside their humanitarian function, acts harmful to the enemy.” In such cases, he said, warnings and “reasonable time” should be given before an attack.
