The World Health Organization praised the workers at Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for doing "everything they can to care for patients despite being surrounded by Israeli forces seeking to eliminate Hamas." Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the WHO in Geneva, stated, "We know there is not enough food, and the workers there are struggling to obtain any clean water because the hospital's water tanks have been destroyed, yet they still do everything in their power to provide medical care to patients."
She added, "We still consider Al-Shifa to be a functioning hospital due to the heroic efforts of the workers there." Harris explained that "Al-Shifa Hospital currently has 700 patients, more than 400 healthcare staff, and about 3,000 displaced individuals." She continued, noting that "20 patients have died in the past 48 hours, although the situation may be much worse."
Harris remarked, "Everyone in this hospital is in an extremely tragic situation... We, worldwide, must find a way to assist them. The best way is to immediately cease hostilities, focusing on saving lives, not taking them." Two sources at the hospital reported that "those trapped there intend to begin burying bodies within the hospital complex due to the severe health crisis."
Harris stated, "In a way, the fact that the hospital should be a safe haven, a place where people can seek treatment in times of distress or need, is being overlooked." She pointed out that "it seems there is a trend towards turning it into a place of death, despair, and danger, which should never happen."
