No safe place to evacuate injured people from Al-Shifa Hospital, official says

By Yaqout Dandashi

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Palestinian health official on Monday said there is no safe place to evacuate the injured people and the newborn babies from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, as the Israeli army has been encircling it for three days.

"There are hundreds of injured people who can't leave the hospital," Mohammed Zaqqout, director general of Gaza hospitals, said in a statement.

He said that the power outage and disruption of medical services at the hospital have resulted in the deaths of 32 patients and newborn babies.

Zaqqout said that the Israeli offer to the hospital to provide it with a quantity of fuel is a "disregard to the world". He said that the quantity offered would not be enough to power the hospital's generator for even one hour.

Since last week, the very vicinity of the hospital came under Israeli heavy airstrikes including several airstrikes within the Al-Shifa Hospital compound itself.

The Israeli army alleged that the hospital is used by the Hamas group for an underneath military base, an accusation categorically denied by the Hamas group.

As of Sunday, the local authorities in Gaza said 22 hospitals, out of 34, went out of service as a result of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

As the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip entered its 38th day, at least 11,180 Palestinians have been killed, including over 7,700 children and women, and more than 28,200 others have been injured, according to the latest figures by Palestinian authorities.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel's relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave since last month.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar