Latest news with #NasserHospital
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Doctors and moms say these babies in Gaza may die without more formula. They blame Israel's blockade
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches as her son lies inside a dilapidated incubator and listens to his faint cry, mixed with the muted sound of the equipment. The mother of six is increasingly concerned about the survival of Hisham al-Lahham, who was just days old, breathing with the help of equipment and being fed through a tube in his tiny nose. Most alarming is that the medical-grade formula he needs to survive is running out. 'There is no milk,' the 24-year-old mother told The Associated Press. He needs it to 'to get better, to live and to see life.' Hisham is among 580 premature babies at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Khodeir and others blame Israel's blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. Their desperation comes as the war in Gaza has been overshadowed by the Israel-Iran war. 'These babies have no time … and no voice,' said Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility still partially functional in southern Gaza. For these babies in Gaza, 'an avoidable disaster' Khodeir's son is one of 10 babies in incubators at Nasser's neonatal intensive care unit. Last week, al-Farah rang the alarm, saying the hospital's stock of medical-grade formula was 'completely depleted.' He said the tiny babies who relied on it would face 'an avoidable disaster' in two to three days. His pleas were answered, in part, by the delivery of 20 boxes of formula sent over the weekend by a U.S. aid group, Rahma Worldwide. The new delivery is enough to cover the needs for the 10 infants for up to two weeks, al-Farah said. Al-Farah, however, expressed concern about future deliveries, saying that it wasn't guaranteed that more formula would be allowed into Gaza. 'This is not enough at all,' he said. 'It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permeant solution: Lift the siege.' Meanwhile, fortified formula required for newborns is already out of stock at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, its director, Dr. Jamil Suliman, said. 'Many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition,' he said, warning of a looming crisis. Infants are among the hardest hit by Israel's blockade, which started on March 2 with the complete ban of any food, water, shelter or medication. Under mounting international pressure and repeated warnings of famine from the United Nations, Israel began allowing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called 'minimal' aid, starting May 19. Since then, more than 1,000 tons of baby food, including formula, have entered Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency in charge of aid coordination in the Palestinian territory. 'Food for babies is certainly entering (the Gaza Strip), as the organizations are requesting it we are approving it, and there is no withholding of food for babies,' a COGAT spokesperson said. But Gaza's health officials say that for these babies, that aid hasn't included enough critical medicine, formula, medical equipment, and spare parts to keep the existing equipment operational. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a report Monday that fortified infant formula was nearly depleted from local markets, with several types already completely out of stock. 'Any limited quantities available in some pharmacies are being sold at skyrocketing prices, far beyond the purchasing power of most families,' it said. COGAT said the baby food is being distributed mostly through international organizations — not via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor that has drawn criticism from other groups. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds heading to GHF sites. The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots. Israel has defended its blockade Israel has said the blockade aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the 50 hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war. Fewer than half are still believed to be alive. Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning aid, without providing evidence. The United Nations says there's been no significant diversion of aid. Militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7. Most of the hostages have been released by ceasefire agreements. The war has unleashed unrelenting destruction, with more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza health officials. The officials don't distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half the casualties are women and children. The war and the blockade have sparked a humanitarian crisis, creating shortages of the most basic necessities and pushing Gaza's health care system to the brink of collapse. Seventeen of the enclave's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, providing health care to more than 2 million people amid bombings, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies. 'Starvation is increasing,' said Jonathan Whittall, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office for the occupied Palestinian territories. More than 110 children have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the start of this year, he said. 'Our warehouses stand empty while Israel restricts shipments to minimal quantities of mainly medical supplies and food,' Whittall added. A crisis at Gaza's hospitals Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that all medical facilities in Gaza are operating in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and have serious shortages of essential health care goods, including medicine and vaccines. 'Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food,' said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. 'They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death.' The Health Ministry has repeatedly warned that medical supplies and fuel were running out at hospitals, which use fuel-powered generators amid crippling power outages. Whittall said hospitals were forced to ration the little fuel they have 'to prevent a complete shutdown of more life-saving services.' 'Unless the total blockade on fuel entering Gaza is lifted, we will face more senseless and preventable death,' he said. Nasser Hospital was forced to cut off electricity for some departments, despite the nonstop flow of patients, as part of a plan to save fuel, said Ismail Abu-Nimer, head of engineering and maintenance. Supplies have been running out amid the influx of wounded people, many coming from areas close to aid distribution centers, said Dr. Mohammad Saqer, Nasser's director of nursing. 'The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane,' he said. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Melanie Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Online Citizen
4 days ago
- Health
- Online Citizen
MSF condemns ‘deliberate' Israeli aid restrictions amid deadly shooting at Gaza food site
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has issued a stark condemnation of Israel's restrictions on aid to Gaza, labelling them as deliberate and inhumane, in the wake of another mass killing near an aid distribution site in Khan Younis. The incident, which killed over 51 Palestinians and injured more than 200 others, has intensified criticism over the handling of humanitarian operations in the besieged enclave. According to the Hamas-run civil defence agency, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd gathering near a World Food Programme site to the east of Khan Younis. Witnesses reported that Israeli drones fired two missiles, followed by tank shells from a position approximately 400 to 500 metres away. Many victims were taken to Nasser Hospital, which has been overwhelmed by the influx. MSF has highlighted a dire pattern of escalating violence and dwindling aid access. In a statement released on 19 June, 2025, the organisation accused Israeli authorities of enforcing policies that keep medical, fuel, and food supplies at a dangerously minimal level, despite claiming to allow humanitarian corridors. Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF's emergency coordinator in Gaza, said, 'The charade of only allowing medical and fuel supplies at the very last-minute ahead of a looming disaster is nothing but a band aid on a gushing wound. The weaponisation of aid must end.' MSF field hospitals, particularly in Deir Al-Balah, have seen a 190% increase in gunshot wound cases within a week. Clinics in Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah recorded their highest patient intake to date. These conditions are exacerbated by a lack of gauze, medications, therapeutic food for malnourished children, and essential equipment powered by fuel. Amy Low, MSF's medical team leader in Gaza City, stressed that neonatal care is being compromised due to power outages. At Al-Helou Maternity Hospital, oxygen and ventilators critical to newborns' survival are frequently shut down due to electricity cuts. MSF also noted that access to clean water has sharply decreased, as fuel shortages cripple desalination plants. Ambulances and other vital transport systems are also impacted, restricting the movement of critically injured individuals. The latest attack near the food distribution point is just one of several incidents in recent weeks where aid seekers have been met with violence. The World Health Organization confirmed the mass casualty incident, and noted a disturbing correlation between food distribution locations and gunshot injuries. The Israeli military stated it was reviewing the incident and acknowledged a crowd had gathered near troops operating in the area. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which manages the food sites, distanced itself from the shootings, emphasising that they occurred away from their direct operations. However, critics argue that the design of the new aid system, seen by some as an Israeli attempt to bypass the UN and control aid flows, has contributed to chaos and deadly desperation. Verified footage and eyewitness reports from multiple incidents suggest a repeated pattern of Israeli forces firing on civilians attempting to access aid. UN human rights chief Volker Turk accused Israel of weaponising food and called for a full investigation into the shootings. Philippe Lazzarini of UNRWA reiterated that Gaza's tragedies continue unabated amid dwindling global attention. The broader backdrop remains Israel's ongoing military campaign, reignited on 18 March 2025 after a ceasefire broke down. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 55,959 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. The most recent offensive has resulted in 5,647 deaths and 19,201 injuries in just three months. MSF asserts that the consistent denial of adequate aid and the systematic targeting of infrastructure are indicative of a broader strategy. 'MSF teams are witnessing patterns consistent with genocide in Gaza,' the organisation declared, citing mass killings and the dismantling of conditions essential for Palestinian life. As violence and restrictions continue, the situation in Gaza grows increasingly unsustainable, with humanitarian agencies warning of total collapse without immediate and consistent international intervention.
Saba Yemen
4 days ago
- Saba Yemen
Gaza Civil Defense carries out 31 missions in 24 hours
Gaza – Saba: The General Directorate of Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip announced that its teams carried out 31 missions across the governorates of the Strip from Sunday morning, 22-06-2025, until Monday morning, amid the ongoing Israeli aggression. These missions included 10 rescue operations, 15 medical aid missions, and 6 other tasks, with no firefighting missions recorded. In a statistical statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), the directorate reported that in the Northern Governorate, the bodies of 3 martyrs were recovered, and 3 injured individuals were rescued from the house of civil defense officer Hossam Abu Nadi after their house was targeted in the Al-Karama area. Additionally, 4 injured people were treated and transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital following an attack at Al-Saftawi intersection, and a female martyr was retrieved after being shot by occupation forces near Al-Halabi roundabout. In Gaza Governorate, two patients were transported from the Tel Al-Hawa and Al-Zarka areas to the Baptist Hospital. In the Central Governorate, two patients were moved from near Al-Razi School and another from Al-Nuseirat market to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. In Khan Younis Governorate, 3 injured citizens were rescued after the house of the "Awad" family near Al-Quba Mosque was targeted and were taken to Nasser Hospital. Meanwhile, in Rafah Governorate, 3 injured individuals were treated following an Israeli attack on displaced persons' tents on Al-Attar Street and were also transferred to Nasser Hospital. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Sky News
19-06-2025
- Health
- Sky News
I felt I had to go back to help Gaza's hospitals, says British plastic surgeon
Dr Victoria Rose is a consultant plastic surgeon who worked in Gaza hospitals for two separate periods last year. This is her first-hand story of the war in Gaza. The word "dire" does not adequately describe the situation in Gaza's hospitals. On a daily basis when I was working there, I had a list of at least 10 patients, and 60% of them were under the age of 15. These were tiny children with life-threatening burns and limbs blown off, often losing significant family members in the attacks and left to cope with their life-changing injuries alone. I first joined the charity IDEALS, which helps medical professionals during crises, in Gaza in 2019. I returned last year, working with orthopaedic surgeons. I felt compelled to go back after becoming aware that a plastic surgeon from Gaza who trained with me in London had been inundated with complex trauma cases since the war broke out in October 2023. Our aim was to deliver essential surgical equipment and assist our colleagues with the increasing trauma workload they faced. But as the war progressed, it became apparent that we had a third objective: to bear witness. I worked at the European Gaza Hospital in March 2024 and then returned in August of that year for a month, working at Nasser Hospital. The transformation of the landscape during these two visits was staggering. The streets were unrecognisable, just pile after pile of dust and rubble. Such a scale of destruction could only be justified if every single building in Gaza was part of Hamas's infrastructure. In February 2024, we were denied entry by COGAT – part of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) controlling activities in the occupied territories – which, regrettably, has become a standard outcome for 50% of foreign doctors attempting to gain access. However, we managed to regain access in May. This mission was intended to last four weeks at the European Gaza Hospital. However, due to its bombing on the day we arrived and its subsequent decommissioning by the IDF, we were redirected to Nasser for three and a half weeks. The population had now been relentlessly displaced, bombed in their tents, deprived of water and sanitation, and ultimately starved. I remember thinking it couldn't get any worse – and then they cut the internet. We ploughed on without essential equipment such as painkillers and antibiotics, patching the patients up, knowing that they were likely to be bombed again. When we left the hospital we went into the red zone – an area of active fighting that needed to be evacuated. This meant that nothing could enter without the journey being "deconflicted" by the IDF. Minimal journeys have thus far been deconflicted. Patients struggle to gain entry, and staff cannot leave, as equipment continues to be depleted. Nasser is the only hospital in the south equipped with a CT scanner, a blood bank, ICU capabilities and an oxygen generator. I work with two orthopaedic surgeons who run the IDEALS charity. They have been travelling to Gaza since 2009. IDEALS started the lower limb reconstruction programme in 2013, visiting Gaza every other month and bringing four orthopaedic surgeons back to the UK for short periods of training. In 2021, I arranged for a plastic surgeon from Gaza to come to London to train with me. He was an incredible trainee and returned to Gaza in February 2023 to take up the post of chief of plastic surgery at Shifa Hospital. 0:54 Shortly after the war broke out, I felt compelled to help him. All eyes are now on Israel's next move.
The National
18-06-2025
- Health
- The National
Israeli army tanks and drones attack Palestinians waiting for food in southern Gaza, authorities say
Fifty-nine Palestinians were killed in southern Gaza on Tuesday when Israeli tanks and drones fired on people waiting for aid lorries carrying food to arrive, authorities and witnesses said. More were feared dead, while another 200 people were critically injured by the attack at Al Tahliya roundabout in the city of Khan Younis, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Israeli warplanes bombed a home in the area before ground forces opened fire on a crowd of people waiting on food and other supplies, witnesses said. Staff at Nasser Hospital, where the wounded were taken, were overwhelmed by the number of dead and injured, it said. 'We've received around 60 martyrs already,' spokesman Dr Mohammed Saqr told The National. 'The number is rising every moment. Many of the bodies are in pieces – that tells you what kind of weapons were used.' There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army. The shooting took place shortly after dawn as hundreds of displaced Palestinians gathered near an American aid distribution point by a desalination plant in hopes of a sack of flour or a few cans of food, witnesses said. Israeli tanks shelled the area, followed by heavy gunfire from drones, they told The National. 'Suddenly, the tanks started firing. People fell instantly. The place was chaos – blood everywhere, bodies lying on the ground,' said Mahmoud Wadi, 34. He said he had been standing in a line for aid with his brother and three children when the killing started. Ambulances could not reach the scene, so survivors used donkey carts and bicycles to evacuate the injured and dead, he added. 'We carried our neighbours' corpses in whatever we could find.' At the hospital, floors were soaked with blood, while people wandered the hallways looking for relatives. Dr Saqr said staff struggled to treat dozens of patients with injuries they could not tend to properly because of inadequate equipment. The hospital is one of the last functioning in southern Gaza and is stretched daily. Fuel shortages and the collapse of the health system have left doctors unable to perform life-saving surgery or provide basic care. 'If help doesn't arrive immediately, more will die, not from wounds, but from the neglect forced upon us,' Dr Saqr said. 'We are not asking for much. Just the chance to save lives.' Yahya Barbakh, a former schoolteacher and father of six who has been sheltering in a tent in Gaza's Al Mawasi displacement zone, said his cousin and four neighbours were killed. 'I went to get food for my children. That's all. I had no weapon. None of us did,' he told The National, his wounded leg bandaged. 'The occupation starves us, sends us to these aid points, and then kills us in cold blood, while the whole world watches.' Before the war broke out in October 2023, Mr Barbakh was a teacher in Khan Younis, a job that enabled him to provide for his family. 'We lived with dignity once. Now, we die for aid,' he said. Tuesday's crowd, he said, had been large but peaceful, waiting hours before the aid point opened. 'They (Israeli troops) didn't care. They just opened fire. It was slaughter.' Gaza authorities and witnesses say Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire in recent weeks on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a US and Israel-backed aid group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, since its aid centres opened last month. Local health officials say hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded over the past weeks. The Israeli army has said it fired warning shots at people approaching its troops in a 'suspicious manner' during incidents. On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said another 38 people were killed by Israeli fire while they were trying to collect food from GHF centres. Israel allowed the GHF to start operations in late May after imposing a nearly three-month blockade on all aid into Gaza. It claims the new system, which has been condemned by the UN and international aid groups, is designed to stop supplies falling into the hands of Hamas. UN agencies and major aid groups deny that there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas and have rejected the new system. They say supply cannot meet the population's demands and turns food into a weapon for Israel to carry out its military goals, including by moving Gaza's more than two million Palestinians into a 'sterile' area in the south of the territory. The limited amounts of aid being distributed at GHF's four sites have done little to alleviate hunger. More than 2,700 children under five face acute malnutrition, the UN's Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said on Monday. People have been fainting on the streets from hunger. 'The whole world knows this system is humiliating,' Mr Wadi told The National. 'And every day, people die because of it. Yet it continues.'
