WHO says Gaza's Al-Amal hospital ‘virtually out of service'
Israeli soldiers take position at Gaza's European Hospital, claiming Hamas militants used a tunnel beneath the facility for operations. (AP pic)
GAZA : The Al-Amal Hospital in Gaza, one of the few still operating in the Palestinian territory, is now 'virtually out of service' due to intense military activity, the head of the WHO said Monday.
'Access to the hospital is obstructed, preventing new patients from reaching care, and leading to more preventable deaths,' the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X.
Tedros said two emergency medical teams – one local, the other international – 'are still doing their best to serve the remaining patients with the limited medical supplies left on the premises.'
'With the closure of Al-Amal, Nasser Medical Complex is now the only remaining hospital with an intensive care unit in Khan Younis,' he said.
The WHO said June 5 that al-Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals were unable to fully treat the wounded that continue to pour in because of serious shortages of medicines and medical supplies after two months of total blockade.
Israeli authorities have recently allowed in some humanitarian aid, but way less than what is needed.
Nearly 20 months of relentless war, triggered by Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, has created one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world, with civilians exhausted by bombardments, forced displacement and hunger.
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