According to the Ministry of Health, levels of blood in the blood bank at Nasser hospital are critically low after five successive waves of incoming patients, with around 180 people killed and 600 injured. One in 10 people who volunteered to give blood during an MSF supported Ministry of Health blood collection activity, were unfit to donate due to anaemia or malnutrition. In Al-Aqsa hospital, the emergency department hasn’t been able to function properly as it is overwhelmed with patients. Before the war, Al-Aqsa hospital had some 220 patients beds. Currently, the hospital has 550 – 600 patients admitted.
“Al-Aqsa hospital is already several hundred patients over its bed capacity,” says Alice Worsley, MSF nurse activity manager. The overcapacity comes after receiving patients from an Israeli strike on Khadija school in Deir Al-Balah on 27 July. “The situation was desperate: even the most dedicated response can’t always save lives without enough supplies, beds, and medical staff.”
On 22 and 27 July, the Israeli forces issued two evacuation orders in Khan Younis, resulting in yet another mass displacement and further shrinking the space where people can go. According to OCHA, from July 22 to 25, approximately 190,000 Palestinians were displaced in Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah. Since the start of the war, an estimated 1.7 million people have been advised to move to an area of 48km2, representing 13 percent of the Gaza strip, according to the World Health Organization.
While the so-called humanitarian zones have proved to be unsafe in Gaza, the existence of such areas does not take away warring parties’ obligations to protect civilians – wherever they are. For nearly 10 months, we have seen that nowhere in Gaza is safe.
MSF calls on all parties to ensure safe access to care and avoid the evacuation of Nasser hospital, which would endanger hundreds of patients.
Fonte original msf.org
