- The lives of thousands of patients will be at risk if fuel reserves at all of Gaza’s hospitals run out in the next 24 hours as is expected.
- Conditions for people in Gaza are worsening, with water, food, power, and medicines in scarce supply.
- Israeli troops continue to amass near Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive targeting Hamas militants
- Israel has told 1.1m Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move south
- Hundreds of thousands have done so – doubling the population of the southern city of Khan Younis overnight
- The UN says the Middle East “is on the verge of the abyss” and asks Israel to let humanitarian aid in
- More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel last weekend when Hamas fighters crossed the border to attack civilians and soldiers
- Nearly 2,700 people have been killed by Israel’s bombing of Gaza, Palestinian authorities say, with an estimated 1,000 missing under the rubble.
The lives of thousands of sick and injured patients in Gaza’s hospitals are at risk as it has been reported that its largest medical facility will run out of fuel on Monday amid anticipation that Israel might also launch a ground offensive.
The humanitarian agency of the UN, OCHA, reported that by Monday, fuel supplies might be completely depleted. Without gasoline for their generators, the hospitals won’t be able to run. Food, water, and other necessities like medicine are also running out.
Following a slew of violent incursions by Hamas terrorists last weekend, Israel imposed a siege on Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Israel instructed more than a million residents in the northern portion of the Gaza Strip to immediately go south in preparation for a full-scale assault that is widely predicted and for which troops are presently gathering along the country’s border.
According to a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, as of Sunday, some 500,000 Palestinians had fled to the south. Many of them had sought shelter at UN camps, which are already at capacity due to the inflow.
A Gaza doctor told the AP that about 22 hospitals with 2,000 patients each were able to evacuate their “mobile patients” to a relatively safe location. However, hundreds of additional patients are being sent in every day, and many patients, particularly those who are critically injured or on ventilators, are unable to be transported.
According to a statement released by the World Health Organization on Saturday, ordering patients and medical staff to relocate “to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already operating at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence.”
Hussam Abu Safiya, a physician at Gaza’s Kamal Edwan Hospital, was cited by Reuters as stating, “If you want to murder us, kill us while we work here, we won’t go. We need several weeks and days to find a new location.
1,400 Israelis lost their lives as a result of the Hamas strikes on October 7, the majority of them civilians. It’s thought that hostages have been abducted from more than 150 more people. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the fighting started, some 2,670 Palestinians have died and about 10,000 have been injured.
(With inputs from agencies)
