GENEVA, Nov 19 —The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Saturday it led a team of United Nations (UN) agencies on an assessment mission to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, describing it as a ‘death zone.
The “team was able to spend only one hour inside the hospital,”, it said and described “the situation as desperate,” reported Anadolu Agency.
WHO noted that following an Israeli army evacuation order for nearly 2,500 displaced people inside the hospital to leave, there are still 25 health workers and 291 patients, including 32 newborns, remaining in Al-Shifa, with several patient deaths having occurred over the previous two to three days due to the shutdown of medical services.
“WHO and partners are urgently developing plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families,” it added.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army raided the Al-Shifa Hospital, which was also a shelter for thousands of Palestinians fleeing deadly airstrikes, before being forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army.
Israel has killed more than 12,300 Palestinians in its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct 7.
— Bernama
