Gaza hospitals suspend operations amid conflict

GAZA — Hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip went out of service as a result of ongoing Israeli attacks and the cut in fuel needed to operate generators, a Palestinian official said on Monday, as intense fighting rages in the enclave.

"All the hospitals, except Al-Ahly Hospital, became out of service because of the Israeli attacks and the running out of fuel," said Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for the health ministry, in a statement, adding that the service in Al-Ahly Hospital was "limited".

"The exhaustion of fuel in the last generator at Al-Shifa Medical Complex caused the deaths of at least five newborns and seven other patients," he said.

Israel argues the Hamas militants built their military headquarters under the Al-Shifa hospital complex, which is the largest hospital in Gaza, while UN agencies and doctors in the facility warned a lack of generator fuel was claiming lives, including infants.

On Sunday, the WHO managed to speak to Al-Shifa health professionals, who described a "dire and perilous" situation with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the critical situation, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Al-Shifa was "not functioning as a hospital anymore".

Tedros joined other top United Nations officials in calling for an immediate cease-fire.

"The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair," he said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Al-Quds hospital, the region's second-largest hospital, was also out of service, with staff members struggling to care for those there with little medicine, food and water.

'No way in, no way out'

"Al-Quds hospital has been cut off from the world in the last six to seven days. No way in, no way out," said Tommaso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Three UN agencies expressed horror at the situation in the hospitals, saying it had in 36 days registered at least 137 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 521 deaths.

Israel said it is trying to free the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas militants on Oct 7 and that the hospitals should be evacuated.

On Sunday, a Palestinian official said Hamas had suspended the negotiations because of the way Israel had handled Al-Shifa hospital.

There was no immediate comment from either Hamas or Israel.

A Latin American and Caribbean organization announced its support on Sunday for Arab and Islamic countries' call on Saturday for a Gaza cease-fire, humanitarian aid, and stopping arms from entering Israel.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty "joins the denunciation and condemnation" of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, which is "committing atrocities and systematic violations of human rights", the regional bloc said in a statement.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday urged Israel to show "maximum restraint" to protect civilians, while also condemning Hamas for using "hospitals and civilians as human shields".

The conflict has raised fears of a broader conflagration. Lebanon-based Hezbollah has traded missile attacks with Israel.

The United States carried out two airstrikes in Syria against Iran-aligned groups on Sunday, a US defense official told Reuters, in what appeared to be the latest response to the attacks.

In France, more than 180,000 people across the country, including 100,000 in Paris, marched peacefully on Sunday to protest against rising anti-Semitism in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, representatives of several parties on the left, conservatives and centrists of President Emmanuel Macron's party as well as far-right leader Marine Le Pen attended Sunday's march in the French capital amid tight security. Macron did not attend but expressed his support for the protest and called on citizens to rise up against "the unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism".

Agencies - Xinhua