Latest news with #NasserHospital
CBS News
3 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Israeli attack near aid delivery point kills more than 30 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say as truce talks falter
More than 30 people were killed and scores were wounded on Sunday after an Israeli attack near a food aid distribution center in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and multiple witnesses. The people were on their way to receive food when Israeli forces allegedly fired on crowds around 1,000 yards from an aid site in Rafah run by an Israel-backed foundation, witnesses told the Associated Press. "There was fire from all directions, from naval warships, from tanks and drones," said Amr Abu Teiba, who was in the crowd. He said he saw at least 10 bodies with gunshot wounds and several other wounded people, including women. People used carts to ferry the dead and wounded to the field hospital. "The scene was horrible," he said. Bodies of Palestinians were taken to the Nasser Hospital for the funeral process after Israeli soldiers opened fire at Palestinians trying to reach the points where US aid is distributed west of Rafah city. Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images Ibrahim Abu Saoud, another eyewitness, provided a nearly identical account to the AP. He said the military fired from about 300 yards away. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said 31 people were killed and 170 others were wounded. Hours earlier, officials at a nearby field hospital run by the Red Cross said that at least 21 people were killed and another 175 were wounded, without saying who opened fire on them. The Israeli army released a brief statement saying it was "currently unaware of injuries caused by (Israeli military) fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site. The matter is still under review." The U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said in a statement that it delivered aid 16 truckloads of aid "without incident" early on Sunday and dismissed what it referred to as "false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos" around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited. Before Sunday, the GHF distribution of aid had been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near delivery sites, the AP reported. The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites have not fired on the crowds, while the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions. A youth carries an empty box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians walk near a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 1, 2025. -/AFP via Getty Images Israel and the United States say the new system is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the United Nations denies it has occurred. U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory. The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel slightly eased its total blockade of the territory last month. Those groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians. Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. Ceasefire talks falter Sunday's incident happened as Israel and Hamas traded blame for the faltering mediation bid to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas said Saturday it was seeking amendments to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, but President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East rejected the group's response as "totally unacceptable." "Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week," the office of Steve Witkoff said in a statement. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said in a statement that Hamas did not reject Witkoff's proposal. "Nevertheless, we now responded positively and responsibly in a manner that fulfilled the minimum of demands and aspirations of our people," Naim said in a statement. "Why, each time, is the Israeli response considered the only response for negotiation? This violates the integrity and fairness of mediation and constitutes a complete bias towards the other side." Displaced Palestinians carry belongings and they leave a camp for displaced people after an Israeli strike hit a nearby house west of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on June 1, 2025, amid the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant movement. BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images The Israeli government has agreed to the proposal outlined by the U.S. The war began when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory, displaced around 90% of its population and left people almost completely reliant on international aid.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Gaza doctor whose nine children were killed in Israeli strike dies from wounds of same attack
A Palestinian father who had lost nine of his 10 children in an Israeli air strike has died from wounds sustained in the same attack, local health officials have said. Hamdi al-Najjar (40), a doctor at Nasser hospital, was critically injured when Israeli forces bombed his family home in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on May 23rd, killing nine of his children. He had just returned home after accompanying his wife Alaa, a paediatrician at the Nasser medical complex, to work when the building was struck. He had initially survived alongside his son Adam (11), who is still in hospital. Footage shared by the director of Gaza's ministry for health and verified by the Guardian showed the burnt, dismembered bodies of Najjar's children being pulled from the rubble of their house near a petrol station as flames engulfed what remained of the family's home. Alaa had received the bodies while she was still at work. Sources at the Nasser hospital who transferred the children's bodies one by one to the morgue said their mother was not able to identify them, so bad were the burns. READ MORE Doctors told said her husband was suffering from severe injuries – brain damage and fractures caused by shrapnel, along with shrapnel wounds and fractures in the chest. He was placed on a ventilator and fitted with medical tubes. On Sunday, they said, he died from the severe wounds sustained in the attack. An uncle of the nine children, Dr Ali al-Najjar, is a Palestinian doctor who works at Sligo University Hospital . Earlier this week he called on Ireland to end Israeli 'impunity' and play its role in bringing 'accountability' to those responsible for death and destruction in Gaza . 'The whole point of sharing my voice is I hope the tragedy Alaa had is going to be the last tragedy. If what happened, happened for a reason, and puts more pressure to end this war of injustice and end this nightmare, I will be satisfied,' Ali said. Adam (11), the only surviving child of Dr Alaa al-Najjar, at Nasser Hospital. Photograph: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Following an appeal issued by Adam's uncle and reported by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Italy's minister for foreign affairs Antonio Tajani said the country was ready to receive Adam for medical care and was working to arrange his evacuation on June 11th. Italy had expressed a willingness to evacuate both the father and mother as well, but due to Najjar's critical condition, transferring him out of Gaza was deemed too dangerous. His wife had agreed for their son, Adam, to be taken to Italy with an aunt and three cousins, but said she would remain by her husband's side. After Najjar's death, sources within the Italian ministry for foreign affairs have indicated that his wife may also be evacuated to Italy. – Guardian
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Gaza doctor who lost nine children in Israeli airstrike dies from wounds in same attack
A Palestinian father who had lost nine of his 10 children in an Israeli airstrike has died from wounds sustained in the same attack, local health officials said on Sunday. Hamdi al-Najjar, 40, a doctor at Nasser hospital, was critically injured when Israeli forces bombed the family house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on May 23, killing nine of his children. He had just returned home after accompanying his wife Alaa, a paediatrician at the Nasser medical complex, to work when the building was struck. He had initially survived alongside his son Adam, 11, who is still in hospital. Even by the terrible standards of the Gaza conflict, their deaths had shocked the international community. Footage shared by the director of Gaza's health ministry and verified by the Guardian showed the burnt, dismembered bodies of Najjar's children being pulled from the rubble of their house near a petrol station as flames still engulfed what remained of the family's home. His wife Alaa had received the bodies while she was still at work. Sources at the Nasser hospital who transferred the children's bodies one by one to the morgue said their mother was not able to identify them, so bad were the burns. Doctors told the Guardian her husband was suffering from severe injuries – brain damage and fractures caused by shrapnel, along with shrapnel wounds and fractures in the chest. He was placed on a ventilator and fitted with medical tubes. On Sunday, they said, he passed away from the severe wounds sustained in the attack. Following an appeal issued by Adam's uncle, Ali al-Najjar, 50, and reported by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said the country was ready to receive Adam for medical care and was working to arrange his evacuation on 11 June. Italy had expressed a willingness to evacuate both the father and mother as well, but due to Najjar's critical condition, transferring him out of Gaza was deemed too dangerous. His wife had agreed for their son, Adam, to be taken to Italy with an aunt and three cousins, but said she would remain by her husband's side. After Najjar's death, sources within the Italian foreign ministry have indicated that his wife may now also be evacuated to Italy.
Times
17 hours ago
- Health
- Times
Israel bombs, children die and this British surgeon keeps working
F irst there is the six-year-old girl whose left cheek and shoulder were blown off. Then the two-year-old. The baby girl of one. The three-year-old orphaned boy. The four year old. And the 11-year-old boy who lost all nine of his siblings. 'We always start with the children,' Dr Victoria Rose, 53, says. It is a typical morning in Gaza and, over a makeshift breakfast of peanut butter on digestive biscuits (everything in Gaza is makeshift), the British plastic surgeon is thinking about the day ahead at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. She will operate on 12 cases. 'Most of my list is blast injuries to small children, including amputation of arms, legs and hands,' she says with a sigh. 'It makes me feel really angry but I can't stop and think about it or I won't be able to work.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Gaza's last hospitals battle to save patients amid severe depletion of life-saving medical items
No helium to operate MRI machines. No antibiotics to treat infected wounds. No room in surgery for general medical conditions, and no new tyres for ambulances wrecked by driving through Gaza 's bombed streets. This is the lot of the 19 hospitals still functioning – most only partially – in the devastated enclave where they serve a war zone with 2.1 million people that has received no significant medical aid for almost three months. The severe depletion of life-saving medical items in Gaza comes as Israel's offensive floods hospitals with casualties, their bodies torn and burned by bombs and often also crushed by the rubble of their collapsed homes. READ MORE 'There are countless examples of lives that could have been saved but were lost because of shortages, or because they could not be evacuated for treatment abroad,' said Allam Nayef, head of intensive care and anaesthesiologist at a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza run by the health ministry and MSF, the international medical charity. Infection is a major risk. 'Bacteria have become like monsters' in Gaza's hospitals, he said. A wounded Palestinian child, the only surviving child of doctor Dr Alaa al-Najjar, lies in a hospital bed at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after an Israeli airstrike hit their home. Photograph: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu One patient was injured so badly his feet had to be amputated, but 2½ months later Nayef found himself anaesthetising the same patient again: his wounds were infected and doctors could only save his life with a fresh amputation, this time above the knees. Gaza's hospitals have plunged further into crisis since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18th after breaking a two-month ceasefire. Local health authorities say more than 3,700 Palestinians have been killed and about 11,000 injured since then. Israel has laid full siege to the territory since March 2nd, preventing all aid deliveries and pushing the population to the brink of famine . In recent days it has allowed limited humanitarian aid to enter, but UN officials have described this as a 'drop in the ocean' compared with the need. [ In pictures: Many in Gaza face malnutrition as blockade enters third month Opens in new window ] During the ceasefire, medical supplies had surged into the enclave, and the World Health Organisation built up stocks in warehouses and hospitals. But doctors say crucial items have now run out or become so depleted that their use is severely rationed. Trauma doctors must resort to inadequate workarounds to try to save lives, while the lack of supplies is causing needless deaths and greater pain for those who survive. 'If someone needs 20 tablets of antibiotics, we give them four,' said Raafat al-Majdalawi, director general of the Al-Awda Health and Community Association, which operates two hospitals in the strip. One of them, Al-Awda hospital, the last functioning medical facility in northern Gaza, was evacuated of all staff and patients on Thursday evening on orders from the Israeli military, according to the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, citing hospital director Mohamed Salha. The hospital had been encircled by Israeli troops and repeatedly shelled this month. 'Inpatients still needed care,' Salha said. 'However, the shelling continued and directly targeted the hospital, leaving us with no choice.' In the hospitals still operating, doctors are severely limited in their ability to help patients. 'There is no scope to prescribe all that an injured patient needs,' said Taisir al-Tanna, a vascular surgeon at Al-Ahli hospital in North Gaza. 'I am restricted by what can be found here.' Wounded Palestinian children and babies are brought to the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after an attack by the Israeli military on the Zaytoun Quarter of Gaza Strip on May 29th. Photograph: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images The hospital was forced to close for weeks after Israeli air strikes in mid-April destroyed the emergency ward. It has since reopened, but Tanna, who carries out up to a dozen surgeries each day, said he lacked crucial materials such as artificial blood vessels to replace damaged arteries; correctly sized sutures for vascular repair; and specialised catheters to remove blood clots during surgical procedures. This month Tanna operated on a 26-year-old bombing victim with a gash in his abdomen that severed a main artery supplying blood to the lower limbs. No artificial blood vessels were available so he used a surgical plastic tube, known as a shunt, hoping that within 48 hours an artificial vessel could be found. 'We couldn't get one, and a foot turned gangrenous, so we had to amputate it,' said Tanna. In the absence of many kinds of antibiotics and disinfectants, and with the injured packed into overcrowded wards, post-operative infection is a major scourge, said Nayef. One cause of infection, he said, was the use of external fixators — long pins piercing the skin attached to a metal frame outside the body that are used to hold broken bones together. They carry a bigger risk of contamination than other methods of setting bones, but doctors have to rely on them because of a shortage of screws and plates used for internal fixation. The lack of a functioning MRI machine has cost yet more lives, said Nayef. He and other doctors could not intervene to save the 20-year-old son of a colleague whose neck was wounded by shrapnel. 'He had a lentil-sized hole, and it appeared his spinal cord had been injured,' said Nayef. 'We needed an MRI scan to assess the damage so we could treat him or try to evacuate him from Gaza.' The injury affected an area in the spinal cord that controlled breathing, said Nayef. The man remained on a ventilator suffering lung infections until he died. Nayef himself, like most Palestinians in Gaza, has been displaced multiple times. Until he moved to Deir al-Balah this month, he worked in the Gaza European hospital in Khan Younis, but it closed on May 13th after a series of Israeli strikes. That meant the loss of another 25 emergency beds, Nayef said. Israel said it was targeting Mohammad Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza, at the hospital. It has subsequently said Sinwar was killed. The WHO said this month that 94 per cent of all hospitals in Gaza had been 'damaged or destroyed'. Some 18 non-profits working in the strip, including Oxfam and Medical Aid for Palestinians, on Wednesday said the attacks on hospitals 'violate international humanitarian law and are part of the systematic dismantling of Gaza's already fragile health system'. [ I showed my friends in Israel this photo of a starving baby in Gaza and asked them if they knew Opens in new window ] 'All we do now is war medicine, to try to save a life or save a limb,' said Nayef. 'There is no scope for scheduled operations and for most reconstructive surgery. 'If we get a mass casualty event, we have to start with those most likely to survive, and by the end we will have lost two or three of the others.' Victoria Rose, a UK plastic surgeon volunteering at the Nasser Medical complex in Khan Younis, described the situation there as 'absolutely dire' as doctors struggled to treat 'more and more' casualties. 'We are running out of basic things like blades for scalpels, gloves, gauze and solutions to clean the skin with,' she said. Patients' recovery is being badly delayed by another factor: malnutrition. Starvation is creeping through the enclave as food stocks dwindle. Patients 'don't have the vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals that they need to heal', said Rose. Ahmad al-Farra, head of paediatrics at the same hospital, said this was the war's most critical period. 'There is starvation, fear, and people are being forced to evacuate from place to place,' he said. 'In two or three weeks, no vaccines will be available to give to any child. All the diseases that are preventable will come back.'– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
