Tragedy unfathomable in hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, which are being relentlessly bombarded by Israel, while patients are dying as power is cut and medical support equipment is not working, according to Doctors Without Borders.

“During the last 24 hours, hospitals in Gaza have been bombarded relentlessly. The Al-Shifa Hospital Complexthe largest health facility where MSF staff still work (at least 50,000 people have taken refuge there – including 2,500 patients, seriously injured, operated on and newborns) has been hit repeatedly, including maternity wards and outpatient clinics, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries

. The hostilities around the hospital have not stopped. Our teams and hundreds of patients are still inside Al-Shifa Hospital. We reiterate our call for an immediate end to the attacks on hospitals, for an urgent ceasefire and to ensure the protection of medical facilities, staff and patients,” MSF said in a statement.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHERE), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also expressed strong concern in the early hours of today as his services “lost contact” with the staff of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest of the entire Palestinian enclave, which has been the target of “repeated attacks”.

However, the Israeli military denies the allegations that Al Shifa hospital is under lockdown: “There are no shots fired in the hospital, and there is no siege. The eastern side of the hospital remains open,” said the representative of the Israeli army.

“They are killing us, do something” – Dramatic pleas

“They are killing us here, please do something“, wrote this morning one of our nurses from Al-Shifa Hospital, where he and his family fled to be protected from the incessant shelling. “Four or five families have now taken refuge in the basement, the bombings are so close, my children are crying and screaming in fear».

“The situation in Al-Shifa is truly catastrophic. We call on the Israeli government to stop this merciless attack on the Gaza health system. Our staff and patients are inside Al-Shifa Hospital, where heavy shelling has not stopped since yesterday,” says Ann Taylor, our head of mission in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Al-Shifa Hospital is the main hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, with 700 beds, providing emergency medical and surgical care. Currently there are no other facilities in the Gaza Strip that can receive and treat so many patients with complex, sometimes life-threatening injuries. Despite constant attacks and shortages, staff have managed to keep the hospital operational. Yesterday, Al-Shifa Hospital stopped having electricity. Ambulances can no longer circulate to collect the wounded, and incessant shelling prevents the evacuation of patients and staff. At the time of writing, our staff is seeing people being shot as they try to leave the hospital.

“There are many patients who have already been operated on and cannot walk. They can’t move,” said Dr. Mohammed Obeid, MSF surgeon at Al-Shifa hospital. We need an ambulance to transport them, we don’t have ambulances to evacuate all these patients».

“We can’t leave because from [χθες] in the morning till today we operated about 25 patients. If I am not here or another surgeon, who will take care of the patients? Obeid asked. There is one patient who needs surgery, another is already sleeping [υπό αναισθησία]».

Doctors Without Borders has lost contact with a surgeon who is working and has found refuge with his family in Al-Quds Hospital.

Other health facilities, including Al Rantisi Hospital, which we have also supported in the past, have reportedly been surrounded by Israeli tanks

Immediate and unconditional ceasefire by all warring parties

Doctors Without Borders denounces the death contract signed by the Israeli army against civilians currently trapped in Al-Shifa hospital. There must be an urgent and unconditional ceasefire by all warring parties.

Humanitarian aid must be provided to the entire Gaza Strip now.

“We call on the US, the UK, Canada, the member states of the League of Arab States, the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union who have repeatedly called for respect for International Humanitarian Law, to take action to ensure a cessation of fire now. The horror unfolding before our eyes in Gaza clearly shows that calls for restraint and adherence to International Humanitarian Law have not been heeded. A collective effort to achieve a ceasefire is the most effective way to ensure the protection of civilians.

Thousands of people have been injured since October 7, many of them in critical condition, requiring complex surgeries and ongoing treatment for weeks, if not months. This can only be done with a full ceasefire and unconditional humanitarian aid, including access to food, fuel and water. The survival of the people in Gaza is based on this,” the announcement concludes.