WHO official calls situation in Gaza hospitals ‘catastrophic’

Palestinians look at houses destroyed during Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in Rafah. P.A.

A senior World Health Organization official on Monday called the situation in Gaza’s hospitals “catastrophic,” adding that most are no longer operational and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by the hundreds of babies expected in the months to come.

The UN briefing came just hours after a shell hit the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry and a health professional. The government and workers pointed the finger at Israel, which denied bombing the hospital.

Violent violence broke out near the Indonesian hospital, which has been housing thousands of patients and displaced people for weeks.

The fighting came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, where they were among more than 250 seriously ill or seriously ill patients. wounded, stranded a few days after Israeli forces entered the compound.