Gaza’s al-Quds Hospital ceases operations amid Israeli attacks
The largest hospital in Gaza has ceased to function and fatalities among patients are rising, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, as a blistering Israeli assault continues in the besieged strip, Reuters reports.
The WHO managed to speak to health professionals at Shifa, who described a “dire and perilous” situation with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the already critical circumstances, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Shifa was “not functioning as a hospital anymore.”
“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,” he said.
The EU "condemns Hamas' use of hospitals and civilians as human shields" and "is deeply concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
"These hostilities have serious consequences for hospitals, civilians and medical personnel", lamented the EU official, stressing "that international humanitarian law stipulates that hospitals, medical materials and civilians inside hospitals must be protected".
