WHO Raises Alarm over Bad State of Al-Shifa Hospital

The World Health Organization (WHO) raised alarm over miserable and deplorable conditions at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, describing its emergency department as a “bloodbath.”

In a statement, WHO said that the hospital is crowded with hundreds of injured patients, as new cases are arriving every minute.

“The emergency department is so crowded that health workers must exercise caution not to step on patients on the floor. Critical patients are being transferred to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for necessary surgeries,” the statement read.

In response, WHO has called for urgently restoring the health system of Gaza's largest hospital, so that it can serve “a besieged people trapped in a cycle of death, destruction, hunger, and disease”.

WHO said: "We are committed to strengthening the Al-Shifa Hospital in the coming weeks, so that it can resume at least basic functionality and continue to provide lifesaving services that are desperately needed amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict."

Al-Shifa complex now houses only a handful of doctors and a few nurses, together with 70 volunteers, working under what WHO representatives described as “unbelievably challenging circumstances”.