NEW DELHI: The Nasser Hospital, Gaza’s second-largest medical facility unit, has ceased functioning due to a lack of fuel and ongoing fighting in the area. With only four medical staffers available, it poses a significant threat to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian displaced people in Khan Younis and Rafah who rely on its services. Israeli forces raided the hospital during the conflict with Hamas, further intensifying the healthcare crisis.
“There are only four medical staffers currently caring for patients” inside the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, Ashraf al-Qidra spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry told Reuters.
“The Nasser medical complex is the backbone of healthcare in southern Gaza Strip. Its ceasing to function is a death sentence for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian displaced people in Khan Younis and Rafah,” he said.
The hospital’s closure is attributed to a lack of fuel and the ongoing fighting in the area. Nasser Hospital, previously the largest functioning hospital in Gaza, was raided by Israeli forces on Thursday, amidst the conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas. This has severely impacted healthcare services in the southern Gaza Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Israel to grant its staff access to the hospital, where it said a week-long siege and raids by Israeli forces searching for Hamas militants had stopped them from helping patients.
“Both yesterday and the day before, the @WHO team was not permitted to enter the hospital to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel,” WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X.
“There are only four medical staffers currently caring for patients” inside the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, Ashraf al-Qidra spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry told Reuters.
“The Nasser medical complex is the backbone of healthcare in southern Gaza Strip. Its ceasing to function is a death sentence for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian displaced people in Khan Younis and Rafah,” he said.
The hospital’s closure is attributed to a lack of fuel and the ongoing fighting in the area. Nasser Hospital, previously the largest functioning hospital in Gaza, was raided by Israeli forces on Thursday, amidst the conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas. This has severely impacted healthcare services in the southern Gaza Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Israel to grant its staff access to the hospital, where it said a week-long siege and raids by Israeli forces searching for Hamas militants had stopped them from helping patients.
“Both yesterday and the day before, the @WHO team was not permitted to enter the hospital to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel,” WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X.
The Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis still sheltered scores of patients suffering from war wounds and Gaza’s worsening health crisis, but there was no power and not enough staff to treat them all, health officials said.