By Awad Rjoub
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestine Red Crescent Society said late Monday that the only power generator at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip has stopped working.
“Today, the sole power generator at Al-Amal Hospital, affiliated with the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Yunis, stopped working. This threatens the lives of 90 patients receiving treatment at the hospital, including 25 patients in the medical rehabilitation department who are now facing the risk of death at any moment,” it said.
The statement confirmed that around 9,000 displaced people have sought refuge in the society's headquarters and the hospital.
It added that “the hospital now relies on a small generator for limited electricity in the maternity ward and emergency department with the remaining fuel expected to run out within 24 hours.”
The statement noted that the cessation of the power generator's operation affects the work of the society's headquarters and Al-Amal Hospital, which houses the emergency operations room for the Gaza Strip, “resulting in a loss of communication with the operation rooms across the Strip.”
Adding to the crisis, Al-Quds Hospital, which is managed by the Red Crescent, was forced to close on Sunday due to fuel depletion and power outages.
For the past three days, Israeli forces have intensified their presence around hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip amid successive demands to residents of the northern strip to move south.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala