A Palestinian civil defence officer injured in Israeli attacks is given cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a stretcher at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip. Gaza, Palestinian territories, October 2023 © Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via AFP
Doctors Without Borders teams treat a man at Al Shifa hospital who has been severely injured after an airstrike. Gaza, Palestinian territories, 19 October 2023 © MSF
Al-Shifa hospital is the principal hospital complex in Gaza Strip, with 700 beds, providing emergency and surgical care. There are currently no other facilities in the Strip able to admit and treat as many patients with complex, sometimes life-threatening injuries. Despite regular attacks and shortages, the staff has managed to keep the hospital operational. Yesterday, Al-Shifa hospital lost electrical power. The ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured, and non-stop bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating. At the time of writing, our staff are witnessing people being shot at as they attempt to flee the hospital.
We cannot leave because from [yesterday] morning until now, we operated on about 25 patients. If I am not here or the other surgeon, who will take care of the patients? There is a patient who needs surgery, another one is already sleeping [under anesthesia].Dr Mohammed Obeid, MSF Surgeon
"There are a lot of patients already operated on and they cannot walk. They cannot evacuate. We need an ambulance to move them, we don't have ambulances to evacuate all of these patients” Dr Mohammed Obeid, Doctors Without Borders Surgeon at Al-Shifa hospital said.
Doctors Without Borders denounces the death warrant of civilians currently trapped in Al-Shifa hospital signed by the Israeli military. There needs to be an urgent and unconditional ceasefire from all warring parties; humanitarian aid must be supplied to the entirety of the Gaza Strip now.
Doctors Without Borders has lost contact with a surgeon, working and sheltering in Al-Quds hospital with his family. Other health facilities, including Al Rantisi hospital which Doctors Without Borders has also supported in the past, were reportedly surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Doctors Without Borders personnel treats a patient with a facial injury at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Gaza, Palestinian territories, 19 October 2023 © Mohammad Masri
Thousands of people have been wounded since October 7, many of whom are in critical condition and will require complex surgeries and sustained treatment for weeks, if not months. This can only be done with a total ceasefire and the unconditional supply of humanitarian aid including access to food, fuel and water; the survival of people in Gaza depends on this.
