CAIRO, Nov 16 Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip is under complete blockade, the head of the hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera.
“
"The hospital turned into a large prison without water, electricity and food. <…> “It’s completely blocked,” he said.
The Israeli military blew up the main water supply, leaving no oxygen reserves, Abu Salmiya continued. There are snipers on the territory, drones patrol the hospital area, and it is impossible to move between buildings. Doctors have no connection with colleagues. The bodies of the dead remain in the premises, it is impossible to remove them.
The head of the clinic added that the medical staff, even in these conditions, will not leave it and will not leave the patients.
“
"We can’t do it anymore provide no assistance to the sick. If this continues, many will die,” he warned.
Abu Salmiya stressed that not a single bullet was fired at the Israeli military from the territory of the medical complex.
The day before, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the discovery of a command center of the Palestinian Hamas movement, as well as weapons, on the territory of the hospital.
According to the i24 TV channel, the Israeli military is expanding the operation in the Al-Shifa complex and moving to the southern part hospitals. In turn, Arab media report that bulldozers have already passed through a large area of the complex.
Official representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric stated that the world organization is concerned about what is happening in the Al-Shifa hospital, medical institutions should be protected by humanitarian law.< br>
Israel has been conducting a ground operation in the Gaza Strip since late October in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters. The military surrounded the city of Gaza itself, and the enclave was actually divided into southern and northern parts.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. Vladimir Putin stressed that the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible solely on the basis of a formula that provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.