Gaza - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The World Health Organization said it participated in a UN mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday to deliver medical supplies and assess the situation in the facility. The team was able to deliver medicines, surgical equipment, orthopedic tools, and anesthesia materials.
According to Maja in the daily news bulletin of the United Nations, Al-Shifa Hospital is currently operating at the minimum level, while there is an urgent need to resume its basic work - at the very least - to continue serving thousands of people in need of life-saving medical care. The hospital, which was the largest and most important hospital in Gaza, now has a small number of doctors, nurses and 70 volunteers, working under unimaginably difficult conditions, according to the World Health Organization, which said that the hospital needs “resuscitation.”
The hospital's operating rooms and important services are still closed due to the lack of fuel, oxygen, specialists and supplies. The hospital is only able to provide simple care for trauma patients. Dialysis is also provided to about 30 patients daily via machines that operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using a small generator.

"Bloodbath"
The UN team described the emergency department as a "bloodbath" with hundreds of wounded and new patients arriving every minute. Wounds are stitched on the ground in the absence of pain relief supplies. The WHO team said that the emergency department is so crowded that one must be careful while moving so that patients do not step on the floor. Those in critical condition are transferred to the Arab National Hospital for surgical operations.
Tens of thousands of displaced people use the hospital building and its surroundings as a shelter. The organization stressed the need for a multifaceted humanitarian response to provide them with food, water and shelter. Many have asked the UN team to tell the world what is happening, in the hope that this will soon alleviate their suffering. The World Health Organization said that Al-Shifa Hospital still suffers from a severe scarcity of food and safe drinking water for health workers, patients and displaced people.

Severe hunger throughout Gaza
This situation reflects the serious and growing concern regarding the spread of hunger throughout the Gaza Strip and the consequences of malnutrition on people's health and their susceptibility to infectious diseases. The organization said that it is committed to strengthening the capabilities of Al-Shifa Hospital in the coming weeks so that it can, at least, resume its essential work and continue providing life-saving services that are urgently needed at the present time.
The Arab National Hospital is the only hospital that operates partially in northern Gaza, in addition to three hospitals that operate at a minimum, namely Al-Shifa, Al-Awda, and Al-Sahaba Medical Complex, while the number of operating hospitals before the beginning of the current conflict was twenty-four.
The World Health Organization expressed grave concern about the unfolding situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and said it was urgently collecting information in this regard.
At the conclusion of its press statement, the organization said: “As hostilities continue and health needs increase throughout the Gaza Strip, work must be restored in Al-Shifa Hospital, which is the cornerstone of the health system in Gaza, so that it can serve the besieged people stuck in the cycle of death, destruction, hunger and disease.”
The mission participated alongside the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security, and the United Nations Mine Action Service.