According to World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the situation at Gaza’s largest hospital is “dire and perilous,” and the Shifa Medical Centre “is not functioning as a hospital anymore.”
“The constant gunfire and bombings” surrounding the hospital, according to the head of WHO, have “exacerbated the already critical circumstances.”
While acknowledging that there is no reason why patients in the besieged Shifa hospital in Gaza cannot be safely evacuated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that Hamas militants are “doing everything to keep them in harm’s way.”
The Israeli prime minister said on CNN’s “State of the Union” programme that 100 hospital patients had been discharged and that tens of thousands of Palestinians who lived nearby had safely left the region by travelling along secure routes that led southward from Gaza City.
However, Israel-Hamas combat persisted close to the main hospital in Gaza; according to the hospital’s director, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the facility was encircled by the fighting.
The United States “does not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire, and we’ve had active consultations with the Israeli Defence Forces on this,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” programme.
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Due to the hospital’s reduced fuel supply, some patient treatment has been halted, putting dozens more patients at risk and resulting in the deaths of two babies.
Without giving further information, Netanyahu claimed that although Israel “just offered Shifa hospital the fuel,” “they refused it.”
Nine Americans and a foreign citizen with U.S. employment rights are among the almost 240 captives held by Hamas in Gaza; Sullivan told U.S. TV talk shows that the United States is “actively engaged” with Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian officials in efforts to liberate the hostages.
Joe Biden, according to Sullivan, “won’t stop until we close that deal so that each and every one of those hostages can return home safely.”
According to the U.S. State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Gaza conflict, including efforts to liberate the hostages, with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar on Saturday.
“We’re doing everything we can… and many things I can’t say,” Netanyahu said to CNN in an effort to liberate the hostages.
The Israeli prime minister persisted in opposing the American plan to hand over control of Gaza and the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority after the war.
