US President Joe Biden on Monday stressed that Gaza’s largest hospital, which has been encircled by Israeli troops and targeted by airstrikes, “must be protected” while calling for “less intrusive action” by Israel. The al-Shifa hospital has remained without electricity and water for days as gunfire and bombings raged outside the compound.
“It is my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action,” Biden said in the Oval Office. The US has previously pushed Israel for temporary pauses in hostilities to allow wider distribution of desperately-needed aid as the Gaza Strip faces a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Battles between Israel and Hamas around hospitals forced thousands of Palestinians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza, stranding critically wounded patients, including newborns, and their caregivers with dwindling supplies and no electricity, said Gaza health officials on Monday.
What is happening near al-Shifa hospital?
Thousands of Palestinians have fled the al-Shifa hospital over the weekend as Israeli troops encircled it, even as hundreds of patients and displaced people remain there. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the hospital is “no longer functioning”.
“It’s been 3 days without electricity, without water and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care. The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances. Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly. Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
After the exodus of people from al-Shifa over the weekend, about 650 patients and 500 staff remain in the hospital, along with around 2,500 displaced Palestinians sheltering inside the complex, said Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza. The Health Ministry said 32 patients, including three babies, have died since al-Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel Saturday.
The hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel on Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying.
Israel’s military asserted it placed 300 liters (79 gallons) of fuel near al-Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. But the military said Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross on Monday attempted to evacuate some 6,000 patients, staff and displaced people from a second hospital, Al-Quds, after it shut down for lack of fuel. However, the convoy was forced to turn back because of shelling and fighting.
Large-scale fighting and bombings in the Gaza Strip began after the deadly surprise attack by Hamas militants on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. In retaliation, Israeli bombardment and ground operations have claimed more than 11,000 lives in Gaza, including over 4,000 children and 3,000 women.
The effect of relentless Israeli attacks
As Israel ramps up its offensive to crush the Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, ordinary Palestinians face a mounting humanitarian crisis with dwindling supplies and displacement. For weeks, hospitals running low on supplies have performed surgery there on war-wounded patients, including children, without anesthesia.
Israel claims that Hamas shields itself among civilians and that the hospital, Gaza’s largest, is a prime example. It says the militants have a command center in and beneath the medical compound and released maps showing where it says they are located in the complex. These allegations have been denied by Hamas and al-Shifa hospital authorities.
On Monday, Israel released a video showing what it said was a militant with an RPG launcher entering Al-Quds hospital. Prior to that, Israeli officials released photos and footage showing what they described as gunmen firing from inside another hospital and the opening of a tunnel next to it, though staff said it was the entrance to the facility’s underground fuel tank.
International law gives hospitals special protections during the war. But hospitals can lose those protections if combatants use them to hide fighters or store weapons, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far rejected growing calls for a ceasefire with Hamas until the latter releases the nearly 240 hostages it captured on October 7 and asserted that Israel will fight the war “to the end”.
“This is neither an ‘operation’ nor a ’round’ but a war to the end. It is important to me that you know this. This is not lip service, but from the heart and mind. If we do not finish them, it will come back,” the Israeli PM said.
(with inputs from agencies)