Palestinian Red Crescent says its teams are besieged in Al-Quds Hospital

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Red Crescent Society on Monday said its teams in the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza are totally besieged amid intense shelling in the vicinity of the hospital.

In a statement, the Red Crescent said Israeli military vehicles are opening fire around the hospital while the patients, injured people, and medical staff remain besieged in the hospital with no water, food, or electricity due to the ongoing Israeli blockade.

It added that a convoy moving from the southern Gaza Strip towards the hospital in Gaza City had to stop in the middle of the enclave as it couldn't continue to move under Israeli fire.

The Red Crescent Society on Sunday said the Al-Quds Hospital went out of service due to a lack of fuel and electricity, but many Gazans took shelter in the hospital, hoping its status as a civilian facility would spare it from attacks.

As of Sunday, local authorities in Gaza said 22 out of 34 hospitals in the strip had to go 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 from 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