“Since reports this morning of a raid at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, we have lost contact with staff there,” wrote WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , on the social media platform
“This development is deeply worrying given the number of patients being treated and people housed there,” he added.
Northern Gaza is the subject of an intense military operation, with thousands of civilians reportedly deprived of humanitarian aid and protection, amid dwindling food and other essentials for their survival .
Tedros said Kamal Adwan Hospital is “overflowing with almost 200 patients – a constant stream of horrific trauma cases,” and that hundreds of displaced people are also seeking refuge there.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, called the reports “very worrying.”
Medical aid mission
The raid took place a day after WHO and its partners managed to reach Kamal Adwan Hospital, amid ongoing hostilities in the north.
Dr Peeperkorn was taking part in this “complex mission” which lasted more than 20 hours, he said, speaking from Deir Al-Balah to journalists attending the bi-weekly UN humanitarian briefing in Geneva .
The team transferred 23 patients and 26 caregivers south to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
They also delivered 10,000 liters of fuel, 180 units of blood, as well as trauma surgery equipment and alcohol to cover 1,600 procedures in Kamal Adwan.
Al-Shifa also received laboratory supplies, anesthetics, medicines and antibiotics were also delivered to Al-Shifa Hospital to cover the health needs of 6,000 people.
Patients are being transferred between hospitals as part of a two-day mission amid hostilities and access restrictions in Gaza.
Hospital staff ‘completely outdated’
Dr. Peeperkorn provided an eyewitness account of what he had seen.
At a checkpoint near Kamal Adwan, there were “thousands of women and children leaving the area, walking, limping, with their few belongings, towards Salah al-Din and, in fact, towards Gaza City “, he said.
“We saw very few men or teenagers,” he continued. “We saw men being checked.”
At Kamal Adwan, the team “saw chaos and chaos,” he said, noting that during his last visit on October 21 and 22, there were 75 to 100 patients at the facility.
“Now there were probably over 200 patients. The emergency department was overflowing and we saw many patients coming in…horrible trauma patients.
Meanwhile, staff are “completely overwhelmed” and “also very under-equipped to deal with this”.
Dr Peeperkorn noted that Kamal Adwan is one of two hospitals in the north that WHO has defined as “minimum functional”. He understood that the other establishment, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, is very isolated and barely functioning.
Polio campaign halted
The WHO official also briefed journalists on the massive UN-led polio campaign in Gaza, which was postponed this week in the north.
Children were to be vaccinated with a second dose of the new type 2 oral polio vaccine, following a first series conducted last month.
He said that to interrupt poliovirus transmission, “at least 90 percent of all children in every community and neighborhood must be vaccinated.”
The campaign has already reached some 452,000 children in the center and south, which he described as a “great success”.
The north is “the last lap,” but escalating violence, intense bombing, travel orders and a lack of assured humanitarian breaks have forced the campaign to be delayed.
“We also want to cover these 119,000 children in the north, as we did in the first cycle,” said Dr Peeperkorn, emphasizing the need “to have access to all children, wherever they are, to ensure that you can achieve this goal.” 90 percent coverage.”
He insisted that “we are almost there”, adding that “we still have good hopes of being able to carry out this campaign”.
The humanitarian situation is deteriorating
Meanwhile, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza is rapidly worsening and basic necessities are in extremely short supply.
Additionally, most attempts to provide life-saving assistance continue to be denied or obstructed, with Israeli authorities once again refusing permission to deliver essential food and water to Jabalya that day.
OCHA has warned that intense hostilities persist in the Gaza Strip, including in the south.
Overnight, an Israeli raid on several neighborhoods of Khan Younis left many dead and many injured, including many women and children.
During the operation, families sought shelter at An Nasser Hospital, a UN-run school, and in the Al Mawasi area, with most returning home after Israeli forces withdrew.
“Reports indicate extensive damage to homes, leaving people in urgent need of tents, tarpaulins to cover damaged shelters, hot meals and clean water,” the agency said.
Regarding the West Bank, OCHA reported that this month alone, more than 100 incidents linked to Israeli settlers have resulted in Palestinian casualties and property damage.
In total, there were some 180 settler-related incidents in nearly 90 Palestinian communities, more than half of which concerned the olive harvest season.
