Gaza Hospital: Israeli Forces ‘Opened Fire’ On Intensive Care Unit

The Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli Forces ‘opened fire on the intensive care unit at Al-Quds Hospital.’

The International Red Cross says in a statement ‘the healthcare system in Gaza has reached a point of no return, risking the lives of thousands of wounded, sick and displaced people.’

The Red Crescent emphasises that “the rules of war are clear. Hospitals are specially protected facilities under international humanitarian law”.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Friday that Israeli tanks have been closing in on at least four hospitals from all directions.

The Head of Al-Shifa Hospital, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera, “This day was a day of war on hospitals.”

“The sick and wounded occupy all of the hospital’s corridors, and we cannot perform surgical operations,” Salmiya said.

“We cannot find a single bed to place victims on,” he added about the situation in Gaza’s largest medical facility. “We are taking difficult decisions between who to save and who to let die … as I speak to you I am standing in front of 100 dead bodies.”

“During the past few hours, the Israeli military has been surrounding three hospitals in Gaza City and the Indonesian Hospital in the north,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from Khan Younis.

“The journey from Nasser and Al-Rantisi Hospitals to the east of Salah al-Din Street in Gaza City is very dangerous and has been hit repeatedly by air strikes,” he said.

Early Friday, Israel struck the courtyard and the obstetrics department of Al-Shifa Hospital, where tens of thousands of people are sheltering, according to Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson at Gaza’s Ministry of Health. At least 13 people were killed, and several wounded.

Israel bombed Al-Shifa Hospital buildings five times since Thursday night, al-Qudra said.

ALJAZEERA