Sister Pina, an Italian head nun at the hospital Umberto I, hugs members of Palestinian families who were evacuated from Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it had completed a second evacuation mission from Gaza's Nasser Hospital, transferring a total of 32 critical patients including children from the site amid fighting.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest, stopped working last week after a week-long siege followed by a raid, the UN agency said.
WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was "indescribable" and voiced concerns for an estimated 130 sick and injured patients and 15 medics who remain inside the site.
"WHO fears for the safety and well-being of the patients and health workers remaining in the hospital and warns that further disruption to lifesaving care for the sick and injured would lead to more deaths," the WHO said on the social media site X.
Efforts to transfer the remaining patients are continuing, it said. The site has no electricity or running water and medical waste and garbage are "creating a breeding ground for disease", it said.
Palestinian health authorities said the situation had reached a "catastrophic level" and that Israeli forces had effectively converted the site into a "military barracks". The lives of those remaining there are directly threatened, they said.
Israel says Hamas, the Islamist group that has run Gaza since 2007, uses hospitals for cover. Hamas denies this and says Israel's allegations serve as a pretext to destroy the healthcare system.