Gaza- “The danger is approaching and we are one step away from the collapse,” says the Director General of the Nasser Medical Complex, Dr. Atef Al -Hout, which is the largest government health facility and the last in a city Khan Yunis south Gaza Strip.
In his conversation with Al -Jazeera Net, the whale estimates that the complex, which includes 3 specialized hospitals, may completely collapse within 3 days, as a result of running out of fuel, and zero balances of the majority of basic drugs and medical consumers, as well as direct threats due to Israeli evacuation orders that included wide ranges from the city.
In an official statement, the Ministry of Health said that “the direct threats of the residential areas surrounding hospitals are clear measures by the occupation within its systematic plan against the health system.”
Out of service
The Nasser Complex is the only one in Khan Yunis, which provides its services to about 700,000 citizens of the city and the displaced in it, after the European Gaza Hospital left the service.
Israeli evacuation orders also caused the exit of Al -Amal Hospital For the Palestinian Red Crescent Society In practice, according to the Ministry of Health, “it is no longer accessible as a result of the occupation’s classification of its surroundings as a dangerous fighting area and forcibly evacuating the population.”
Although the occupation excluded the Nasser Medical Complex and Al -Amal Hospital, from evacuation orders, he forced – according to the whale doctor – the residents of Al -Amal neighborhood, where Al -Amal Hospital, west of Khan Yunis, is located to displace, and thus it was not possible to reach the hospital due to the occupation’s classification of the neighborhood “a dangerous fighting zone.”
As a result, the pressure on the Nasser complex increased because it was unable to transfer cases of wounded and patients to Al -Amal Hospital, and it has been working for a few days above its absorptive capacity, and the occupancy rate in the complex is currently between 170 to 180%, according to the whale.
The Nasser Complex is located in the 107th Square according to the occupation classification, which is among the very limited areas in the city, not included in the extensive Israeli evacuation orders, which affected – according to local estimates – about 95% of the city of Khan Yunis, which is the largest in terms of area at the sector level.
Al -Hout says that “the absence of the complex within the evacuation areas does not mean that we are in safety”, as it is surrounded by areas and residential squares forcibly devoted to the occupation, and therefore the “danger is approaching”, and with it the medical staff, the wounded and the patients cannot arrive, and paralyzes the movement of ambulances.
Today, Saturday, the whale briefed a delegation from Global Health Organization On the deteriorating reality within the hospitals of the complex and its departments, and as a result, the international organization warned in a statement of the collapse of the health system, and that the last two hospitals working in the southern sector are facing the risk of stopping work.
The organization said that “Nasser and Al -Amal hospitals are working beyond their absorptive capacity, amid a severe shortage of basic drugs and medical supplies, and they may get out of work at any moment.”
Al -Hout says that the World Health Organization delegation was shocked by what he saw in the complex, and its continuation of work with a minimum and with tremendous pressure, “For example, we have 41 wounded and sick, while we only have 12 beds.”
“The amount of fuel available currently is sufficient for only two days, and we work according to a harsh rationalization plan, it comes at the expense of patients, and currently we work during the morning period at full capacity, while the evening period is limited to saving life, and we cannot operate all operating rooms, and we have to extinguish electricity from some departments and buildings.”
The occupation prohibits international and international institutions from reaching the places of storage of fuel for hospitals, on the pretext that they are located in red areas, and the Ministry of Health confirms that “the disability of the access of fuel supplies to hospitals threatens to stop work that depends on the generators to provide vital departments with energy.”
Facing death
On what does the Nasser complex go out of service, the Director of Field Hospitals, Dr. Marwan Al -Hams, answers that “a humanitarian catastrophe over the boundaries of the perception will occur and will take you into thousands of the lives of the wounded and the sick.”
“We renew the warning in the Ministry of Health from reaching the moment, which means a complete collapse of the health system in the southern sector,” Al -Hams told Al -Jazeera Net.
He explained that Al -Amal Hospital contained surgeries, cross -rays and 100 overnight beds, and he supported the Nasser Medical Complex with intensive care by possessing 8 care families and could accommodate and reach 12 beds, but due to evacuation orders, safe paths are not available to reach this hospital.
The pressure on the Nasser complex intensified, amid severe concerns about its departure from the service, and it is the largest that has the reception and emergency service for the wounded, and the serious and over medium conditions that were transferred to it from field hospitals, and it has a intensive care service.
It is the only one who provides dialysis service, cardiac and resuscitation service, rare medical specialties such as neurosurgery, chest surgery, pediatric surgery and general surgery, depending on hamas.
Al -Hams asserts that “Nasser and hope for service will make 650,000 Palestinian citizens in the southern Gaza Strip without any medical service, and thousands of wounded and patients will be, especially critical diseases and dialysis in the face of death.”
Systematic targeting
The head of the International Authority for the Defense of the Rights of the Palestinian People, Dr. Salah Abdel -Ati, confirms what the World Health Organization has gone and warns it of the collapse of the health sector, and he says to Al -Jazeera Net, that this is the result of “organized Israeli targeting and taking out 36 hospitals from service until the moment.”
Abdel -Ati adds that the health sector with its facilities and cadres was in the focus of the Israeli targeting since the outbreak of the Israeli genocide after October 7, 2023, and led to the martyrdom of 1460 doctors, nurses, paramedics and workers in the health sector, and the arrest of approximately 600 medical teams, which caused the lack of medical personnel and exhaustion.
What is exposed to the Nasser Complex and Al -Amal Hospital – according to Abdel -Ati – does not deviate from this systematic and organized targeting, as the occupation cuts them the way to continue their work in helping the wounded and serving patients, by direct targeting, siege, evacuation orders, preventing medicines and fuel.
Abdel -Ati confirms that this targeting of hospitals is inconsistent with rules International law AndInternational human lawAnd if the health sector completely collapses in the Gaza Strip, it is a death sentence for about 14 thousand wounded and patients, and whoever needs clinical care, in addition to about 350 thousand chronic diseases.
The human rights activist puts the targeting of the health sector in the context of the “war and genocide” crimes committed by the occupation forces, which is a serious violation of the provisions of the Hague and Geneva Conventions, which provided special protection for medical, wounded, patients, and health facilities.