No functioning hospitals left in northern Gaza: WHO

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said that northern Gaza no longer has functional hospitals due to lack of resources amid ongoing Israeli onslaught.

"There are no functional hospitals left in the north. Al-Ahli was the last one but is now minimally functioning and still treating patients but not admitting new ones, along with Al-Shifa, Al-Awda and Al-Sahaba hospitals. These hospitals are still sheltering thousands of displaced people," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in occupied Palestinian territories, told a press conference in Geneva via video link.

Nothing that only nine out of 36 health facilities are partly functional in the whole of the Gaza Strip, Peeperkorn said, all of them are in the south.

"Now, Al-Ahli is a shell of a hospital," he said, adding that it was the only hospital where injured people could get surgery in northern Gaza until two days ago.

"But there are no operating theatres anymore due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers, including surgeons and other specialists," he said. "It has completely stopped functioning and is only operating as a hospice currently, with no or very little care services provided."

The representative said that Al-Ahli Hospital is in "utter chaos, completely congested and a disaster zone."

More than 20 Al Ahli hospital staff were arrested on Monday, Peeperkorn noted and said that six were released and forced to move to the south.

However, there is no information regarding the remaining ones under detention, he said, urging all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and to protect health workers, patients, health facilities, and ambulances at all times.

- Hospital occupancy rates reach 206% in South

Peeperkorn stressed that two major hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at "three times" their bed capacity.

Meanwhile, overall occupancy rates are now reaching 206% in inpatient departments and 250% in ICUs, in addition to providing shelter to thousands of internally displaced people, he said.

According to the representative, over 1.9 million, or 85% of the population, are estimated to be displaced, half of whom are children. Over 1.4 million of them are taking shelter in UNRWA facilities and other public venues, including hospitals.

Peeperkorn said that 136 UNRWA staff have been killed since the start of hostilities.

Regarding the attacks against health care, he said that as of Wednesday, 246 attacks occurred in Gaza, resulting in 582 fatalities and 748 injuries. The attacks have affected 61 health care facilities and 76 ambulances, he added.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing nearly 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 52,586 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while nearly 130 hostages remain in captivity.