Gaza hospital is ‘nearly a cemetery’ amid Israel-Hamas strikes: World Health Organization

Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital is holding about 150 bodies that can’t be removed amid relentless strikes from the Israeli military, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local health authorities claim.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded the hospital Saturday, saying it protects a Hamas militant command post. Hamas and hospital administrators have denied that claim.

“Around the hospital, there are dead bodies which cannot be taken care of or not even be buried or taken away to any sort of morgue,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told the BBC. “The hospital is not working at all anymore as it should. It’s nearly a cemetery.”

Hamas said there are roughly 2,000 people inside the hospital, including about 600 patients.

Israel’s military, however, claimed they were fighting Hamas militants in nearby neighborhoods. The IDF added the hospital is not under “siege” and those inside could leave safely — which the hospital’s administrator Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmia contested.

Selmia told the British outlet the Israeli military is not allowing people to leave, including those transporting the bodies, and that dogs entered the hospital grounds and have been seen eating corpses.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said Tuesday that men inside the hospital complex are digging a mass grave for the bodies.

“We are planning to bury them today in a mass grave inside the Al Shifa medical complex. It is going to be very dangerous as we don’t have any cover or protection from the [International Committee of the Red Cross],” he told Reuters. “The men are digging right now as we speak.”

Chief among the concerns of humanitarian organizations is the fate of 36 babies in the hospital’s neonatal ward. Three died Friday after the hospital lost power.

Israel has offered to organize portable incubators to transport the babies, but Al-Qidra said those arrangements have not yet been made.

“We have no objection to have the babies being moved to any hospital, in Egypt, the West Bank or even to the occupation [Israeli] hospitals,” he said. “What we care most about is the wellbeing and the lives of those babies.”

“The occupation is still besieging the hospital and they are firing into the yards from time to time. We still can’t move around, but sometimes doctors are taking the risk when they need to attend to patients,” Al-Qidra added.

Al-Shifa has become the center of fighting in Gaza City amid the Israeli military’s encirclement of the city.

On Saturday, Doctors Without Borders claimed its staff witnessed people being shot at as they attempted to leave the hospital complex.

“Al-Shifa hospital complex … has been hit several times, including the maternity and outpatient departments, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries,” the organization said. “The ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured, and non-stop bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating.”

President Biden urged Israel not to fire on hospitals on Monday as negotiations to free about 200 hostages held by Hamas continue.

“My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals and we remain in contact with the Israelis,” Biden said. “Also there is an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners and that’s being negotiated. … So I remain somewhat hopeful, but hospitals must be protected.”

The war in the region began early last month after Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis in a brutal surprise attack on border communities. The responding airstrike campaign and ground invasion of Gaza has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children.