NEW YORK: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday it had led a valuation mission to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza and determined it was a “death zone”, urging a complete evacuation.
“WHO and its partners are immediately developing plans for the urgent evacuation of the remaining patients, staff members and their families,” the UN health agency said in a statement, saying that around 291 patients and 25 medical staff remained inside Al-Shifa hospital.
WHO stated it had headed a joint UN team, including logistics officers, public health experts, and security staff from several agencies on a short and “very high-risk” mission into Al-Shifa hospital on Saturday.
AFP reported that the UN team was meanwhile only able to spend just an hour in the hospital due to the security situation. The team, WHO stated, described the hospital as a “death zone” and the situation as “worried”.
WHO Terms Al-Shifa Hospital as ‘Death Zone’
“Signs of gunfire and shooting were evident. The team also saw a mass grave at the hospital and were told over 80 people were buried there,” WHO said. A lack of clean drinking water, medicines, fuel, food and other essential help over six weeks had caused the most advanced hospital in the Gaza Strip to basically stop functioning as a health facility, WHO said. Among the patients remaining in Al-Shifa were about 32 babies “in very critical condition”, WHO maintained.
READ ALSO: Death Toll in Gaza War Surpasses 12,300
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that they were working with partners to develop an immediate evacuation plan and asked for complete facilitation of this plan. He added, “We continue to call for safety of health workers and of civilians,” adding that “the present situation is intolerable and unjustifiable. Ceasefire. NOW.”
Israel’s relentless offensive has killed more than 12,300 people, most of them civilians, including 5,000 children, health officials said.
