The devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing since last October 7, has caused 28 hospitals out of service out of a total of 35, according to official figures, either due to the Israeli air strikes, or to storming and evacuating them, or due to the exhaustion of fuel and medical supplies.
The health system in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of complete collapse, as as of Tuesday, 28 hospitals out of a total of 35, according to official figures, either because of the Israeli air strikes, or because they were stormed and evacuated, or because they ran out of fuel and medical supplies.
The greatest damage occurred to hospitals in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, which were besieged by a ground military operation launched by the Israeli occupation army on October 27, most of which are out of service or are about to close their doors to patients and injured people.
As for the three southern governorates, they are not much better, as many of their hospitals were subjected to aerial bombardment, and suffered from running out of fuel and medical supplies, and severe overcrowding due to displacement from the north, and the Israeli siege implemented since October 7, which led to many of them being out of service.
North Gaza Governorate
The northern governorates are home to six main hospitals, and they were among the first medical points to face evacuation threats, especially with the beginning of the ground operation in which the governorate was attacked from two out of three axes.
Most of the hospitals are concentrated in northern Gaza in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, and also in Jabalia camp, the most prominent of which are:
1 - The Indonesian Hospital (East): It is located in Jabalia camp. It was opened in 2015 with a donation from Indonesian citizens. It has a capacity of 140 beds, so it is considered the largest in the governorate.
It became the most important hospital in the areas of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip after the Shifa Medical Complex stopped working following its invasion by Israeli forces after 9 days of siege and its almost complete evacuation of the wounded, patients, and medical staff.
In the latest developments, Israeli forces have besieged the Indonesian hospital since Monday morning and bombed a number of buildings there. Director General of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir Al-Bursh, said, “The occupation destroyed some of the buildings of the Indonesian hospital.”
Al-Barsh indicated that there were 650 wounded in the hospital, although its capacity was only 140 beds. He also pointed out that there were more than 100 patients in need of urgent surgery, and the medical staff was limited.
He stated that the Israeli forces bombed the hospital's clinics and surgeries floor and destroyed the equipment, and that the bodies were piled up in the hospital and its courtyard.
He considered that targeting the "Indonesian" would mean the cessation of all health services in the northern regions. He confirmed that occupation snipers were on top of all the buildings surrounding the hospital and shooting everyone who moved around it.
2- Beit Hanoun Hospital: It is located in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northeast of the governorate. It accommodates about 65 beds. It was opened in 2006.
However, on October 9, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the cessation of medical and health services there as a result of the Israeli army’s repeated and direct targeting of it, which negatively affected the ability of working crews to reach and leave the hospital.
3- Al Karama Hospital: It was out of service on October 17 as a result of the Israeli bombing.
4- Kamal Adwan Hospital: The hospital went out of service about a week ago after it ran out of fuel and completely stopped working, according to statements by Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra.
5 - Al Awda Hospital: It is located in the town of Jabalia, and it is currently no longer receiving any wounded or new patients, as Israeli forces arrived in an area close to its surroundings.
Gaza Governorate
It includes no less than 13 major hospitals, and it has the largest concentration of hospitals due to its population density, which is about half the population of the Gaza Strip. All of them are out of service except for the Baptist Hospital, which provides the minimum medical services and is under threat at any moment.
1- Al-Shifa Medical Complex (West): It is located in the Al-Rimal neighborhood on the western coast of Gaza City. It has a capacity of 700 beds, according to the World Health Organization. Therefore, it is considered the largest hospital in the Strip, and perhaps the oldest, as it is believed to have been built in 1946 during the British Mandate of Palestine.
Al-Shifa was out of service after the Israeli occupation stormed it in the early hours of November 15, where about 7,000 displaced people were sheltering in it, in addition to hundreds of medical staff, the sick, and the wounded, including premature babies.
The Director General of Al-Shifa Hospital, Muhammad Abu Salamiya, explained that the Israeli army evacuated the hospital almost completely last Saturday of patients, wounded and displaced people after about 9 days of besieging it.
Occupation soldiers storming Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on November 15. (AFP)
2- Al-Quds Hospital (South): It is located in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood and can accommodate about 100 beds, so it is considered the second largest hospital in the Gaza Governorate.
It went out of service on November 12 after the fuel reserve needed to operate the electric generators ran out, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society that runs it, which announced the evacuation of 6,000 medical personnel, patients and displaced persons who were taking shelter in it believing that it was a safe place, but its surroundings were subjected to bombing. Israeli air force on October 18.
Before the evacuation, the hospital contained 400 patients and wounded, and about 14,000 people have taken refuge in it since the beginning of the war.
3- Al-Ahly Al-Arabi (Al-Maamadani): It is surrounded by Israeli occupation tanks, and according to a statement by a surgeon there, it is “the last existing hospital in Gaza City, and its health capabilities and capabilities are very few.”
On October 17, the Baptist Hospital was subjected to an Israeli air strike, which led to the death of 471 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children who sought refuge in the hospital.
Other hospitals in the city were also evacuated, such as Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, and Muhammad Al-Durrah Hospital, while Al-Suwaidi Clinic was destroyed in an air strike.
Deir al-Balah Governorate (Central)
The Central Governorate includes only two main hospitals: Shuhada Al-Aqsa and Jaffa. The governorate is now threatened by a new ground invasion if the Israeli ground operation expands south.
1 - Al-Aqsa Martyrs: A government hospital is threatened with ceasing service at any moment if fuel does not reach it to operate electricity, in exchange for severe overcrowding of the wounded and sick.
The hospital's "strategic stock of medicines and medical supplies ran out" on October 19, according to hospital director Iyad al-Jaabari. His surroundings were previously subjected to an air strike in the same month, but his medical staff refused to evacuate him.
2 - Jaffa Hospital: It was called Jaffa Medical Center, and it is private and affiliated with the Al-Salah Islamic Charitable Society. It has several specialties and departments for eye, nose, ear, and throat surgery, and an obstetrics and gynecology department, but it does not work in light of the war and the severe shortage of medical resources and fuel.
Khan Yunis Governorate
It is located in the south of the Gaza Strip, and there are six main hospitals, but they are threatened with closure due to a lack of fuel, and the Israeli army asked residents of the east of the governorate to evacuate their areas.
1- The Algerian Military Hospital: It is located in the Abasan area in the city of Khan Yunis, and is out of service, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
2- Nasser Medical Complex: The second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip after Al-Shifa. It suffered collateral damage after the Israeli army bombed a mosque near it, which led to the collapse of the roof of the radiology department last October, but it continues to operate.
3- Gaza European Hospital: It is a government hospital, parts of which were damaged in an Israeli bombing, but it still continues its work.
Rafah Governorate
The governorate is located in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, and has a land crossing that is the only outlet to the outside world away from direct Israeli control, including the intervention of international aid.
Like the hospitals in Khan Yunis, their counterparts in Rafah suffer from a lack of fuel and medical supplies, overcrowding with the wounded and sick, and the threat of bombing.
The most prominent of which are: Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital, which is considered the largest in the governorate, in addition to the Kuwait Specialized Hospital and the Emirates Crescent Hospital for Women and Obstetrics.
Despite the proximity of the three hospitals to the Rafah crossing and their superior status to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, they are also threatened with being out of service if international aid does not reach them quickly.
The number of journalist martyrs in Gaza increased to 62 after the martyrdom of two Palestinian journalists
The number of journalists martyred as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip rose to 62, after the martyrdom of two journalists, Alaa Taher Al-Hasanat and Ayat Khadura, following air strikes that targeted their homes.
Two Palestinian journalists were martyred after their homes were targeted by Israeli raids last Monday night. The raids also resulted in the martyrdom of other Palestinian civilians, and a large number of wounded and wounded.
According to the Palestinian News Agency, Wafa, two journalists, Alaa Taher Al-Hasanat and Ayat Khadura, lost their lives after their homes were targeted in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and the Beit Lahia area in the north.
The agency announced that Israel had killed 62 journalists, including 6 women, in its attacks on Gaza since October 7.
Khadura said in a live broadcast with Al-Ghad Satellite Channel, minutes before her martyrdom: “This will be the last video.”
Khadura continued, crying: “The occupation forces dropped phosphorus bombs on Beit Lahia and distributed leaflets to evacuate the area.”
She added: "People are walking on the roads like crazy and they do not know where they are going. We as a family are also dispersed at home and some have left, but of course we do not know where anyone is going. The situation is very difficult. Oh Lord, have mercy on us."
Palestine TV announced the martyrdom of journalist Alaa Taher Al-Hasanat, as a result of the Israeli occupation forces’ bombing of her family’s home in Gaza City.
Since October 7, the Israeli occupation has been targeting journalists in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, killing a number of them and arresting others.
The government media office in the Gaza Strip had confirmed the martyrdom of 62 male and female journalists, while they were directly targeted by occupation missiles, or as a result of their homes being demolished over their heads and their families.
As for the West Bank, the Prisoner's Club said that the occupation arrested about 42 male and female journalists after October 7, and maintained the detention of 32 of them, including journalist Mervat Al-Azza, in addition to journalist Somaya Jawabreh, who is subject to house arrest.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it had not documented the killing of journalists in this number since it began monitoring and recording the killings of journalists in 1992.
The International Federation of Journalists (based in the Belgian capital, Brussels), on Tuesday condemned Israel's killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, he called for an immediate investigation into the killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war for 46 days.
The statement included the names, dates and places of death of 62 journalists who lost their lives in Israeli attacks until Tuesday.