By Ken Afor
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Sunday that the biggest hospital in Gaza has halted its operations, resulting in an increase of deaths among those receiving medical aid, amid the intense Israeli bombardment in the area ruled by Hamas.
Medical staff report that hospitals in the northern Palestinian enclave, particularly al-Shifa Complex, are under blockade by Israeli forces, creating a situation where the facility is barely able to provide care for those inside.
Tragically, three newborns have already died and more are at risk due to power outages caused by clashes nearby.
Israel claims that it has narrowed in on the Palestinian Hamas militants responsible for a series of fatal strikes conducted in southern Israel on October 7, and that command centers are housed beneath and close to the hospitals associated with the group.
The WHO managed to speak to health professionals at al-Shifa, who described a “dire and perilous” situation with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the already critical situation, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that al-Shifa was “not functioning as a hospital anymore”.
“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,” he said.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country has the largest Muslim population in the world, called for a ceasefire prior to his upcoming meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Monday.
“A ceasefire must be implemented soon, we also must accelerate and increase the amount of humanitarian aid, and we must begin peace negotiations,” President Joko Widodo said in a video recorded after he took part in an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh.
He declared the world as ‘helpless’ in the wake of the tribulation of the Palestinians, and the striking joint Islamic-Arab summit also requested the International Criminal Court to inspect the ‘war crimes and offences against humanity executed by Israel’ in the Palestinian districts.
Israel has declared its intentions to liberate all of the over 200 hostages that were seized by Hamas militants on October 7 and has asked that the hospitals in the vicinity be vacated.
The European Union firmly condemned Hamas for exploiting hospitals and civilians to be used as human shields in Gaza, while also encouraging Israel to exercise maximum restraint with the aim of protecting civilians.
“These hostilities are severely impacting hospitals and taking a horrific toll on civilians and medical staff,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday in a statement issued on behalf of the 27-nation bloc.
Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Adviser, asserted that Hamas had broken the laws of war by placing fighters and weaponry in hospitals and other civilian areas.
“The United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire and we’ve had active consultations with the Israeli Defense Forces on this,” Sullivan told CBS News.
More than a month ago, Israeli officials reported that around 1,200 people had been killed – mostly civilians – by Hamas militants rampaging through southern Israel, prompting Israel to declare war on them.
On Friday, Palestinian officials declared that since then, 11,078 people living in Gaza had been killed in air and artillery strikes, and approximately 40% of those casualties were children.
Hundreds of thousands of people in numerous cities across the globe have held demonstrations urging for a truce in the wake of the Israeli military reaction, which has sparked considerable outrage.
Supporters of Israel, particularly in the U.S., assert that any ceasefire would permit Hamas to set up renewed assaults; however, the Biden administration has implored Israel to provide respites in the hostilities to provide civilians with the opportunity to vacate and to permit aid to be brought in.
The White House released a statement stating that U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani agreed during their Sunday conversation in relation to the situation in Gaza that all hostages held by Hamas must be released without any additional delays.
Fears of a larger conflict have been sparked due to the ongoing hostility in between Hezbollah, which has been supported by Iran, and Israel through missile attacks, and from forty separate drone and rocket attacks on U.S. forces which have come from Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria.
On Sunday, the United States conducted two airstrikes in Syria against Iran-aligned groups, a U.S. defense official informed Reuters. This appears to be a response to recent attacks.
