Gaza hospital in critical condition after Israeli raids
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
Al-Shifa, Gaza Strip's main hospital, is short of doctors and medicines. The only Palestinian power plant was also shut down for days.
Gaza hospital in critical condition after Israeli raids
Al-Shifa, Gaza Strip's main hospital, is short of doctors and medicines. The only Palestinian power plant was also shut down for days.
"We have no doctors, no medicines, and there is no electricity. The situation is terrible." Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the Gaza Strip's main hospital, the al-Shifa complex, spoke from his "front line" about the effects of the bombardments that have struck the Palestinian enclave.
Al-Shifa hospital at risk of care shutdown for inpatients
As the wounded arrived "every minute", the medical facility had to ration its resources. Gaza's only power plant had in fact been shut down on Saturday due to a lack of fuel, four days after the closure of the access crossings into the Strip, controlled by Israel.
Even the emergency generators activated by the hospital were at risk of being switched off due to fuel shortages, which would have caused a complete shutdown of care for inpatients. Fortunately, on Monday the first lorries managed to pass through the southern crossings of the Gaza Strip, in particular through the Kerem Shalom goods crossing.
Israel reopens access crossings to Gaza
The Jewish state announced that it had reopened the crossings "for humanitarian reasons", according to Cogat, the defence ministry body that oversees civil activities in the Palestinian territories. But the Israeli government itself stressed that "the return to normality will depend on how the situation develops and on compliance with security conditions".
The ceasefire itself, though respected by both sides for now, appears fragile. Israel accepted the cessation of hostilities while reserving "the right to respond firmly to any violation". And the United Nations special envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, welcomed the ceasefire on the one hand, but stated that "the situation remains very delicate".
The ceasefire, though fragile, has so far been respected
Gaza, meanwhile, continues to be an open-air prison. Despite four wars, from 2008 to 2021, despite the abysmal military asymmetry of the conflict and despite a merciless embargo imposed by the Israeli authorities, everything perpetuates itself in the almost total indifference of Western diplomacy.