The Hamas-controlled health ministry said on Friday that 24 patients at a hospital in war-torn Gaza had died within 48 hours due to power outages, as Israeli forces searched the complex for Hamas hideouts.
The announcement came soon after Israel agreed to a US request to allow two fuel trucks a day into Gaza, following a UN warning that shortages had halted aid deliveries and put people at risk of starvation.
The situation was dire at al-Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, which Israel’s army said it was searching for a third day for suspected hideouts of fighters from the Islamist movement’s armed wing.
Hamas rejects an Israeli charge that it has a command centre at the hospital, where thousands of people, including wounded patients and premature babies, are believed to be inside. The hospital also denies the claim.
Israel has vowed to “crush” Hamas in response to the group’s October 7 attack, when it broke through Gaza’s militarised border to kill about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and take about 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials.
The army’s air and ground campaign has killed 12,000 people, including 5,000 children, according to Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
“Twenty-four patients … have died over the last 48 hours” at al-Shifa hospital “as vital medical equipment has stopped functioning because of the power outage”, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
In response to a US request, Israel’s war cabinet unanimously agreed to “provide two tankers of fuel a day to run the waste water treatment facilities … which are facing collapse due to the lack of electricity”, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said.
Indonesian Hospital in Gaza forced to turn away patients as supplies run out
Indonesian Hospital in Gaza forced to turn away patients as supplies run out
“We took that decision to prevent the spread of epidemics. We don’t need epidemics that will harm civilians or our fighters. If there are epidemics, the fighting will stop,” he said.
A senior US official said Washington had exerted huge pressure on Israel for weeks to allow fuel in through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken making clear Israel needed to act immediately to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said 70 per cent of people have no access to clean water in south Gaza, where raw sewage had started to flow on the streets.
Under the deal, which is to start on Saturday, 140,000 litres (37,000 gallons) of fuel will be allowed in every 48 hours, of which 20,000 litres will be purely to power communications generators, the US official said.
It comes after aid trucks were unable to enter Gaza from Egypt for two straight days due to the lack of fuel and a near-total communications blackout.
Israel has defended its al-Shifa operation, with the military saying it found rifles, ammunition, explosives and the entrance to a tunnel shaft at the hospital complex. Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, alleged hostages may even have been held at the medical facility.
“We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital,” he told CBS Evening News. “If they were, they were taken out,” he said.
Israel said its forces were searching al-Shifa “one building at a time”.
Bodies of 2 hostages found near Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israel army
Bodies of 2 hostages found near Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israel army
Israel has come under increasing pressure to back up its allegations that Hamas is using hospitals as command centres.
The United States has stood behind its ally, however, with US President Joe Biden this week saying he had asked Israel to be “incredibly careful” in its military moves around Gaza hospitals.
More than half of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer functional due to combat, damage or shortages, and Israel’s raid on al-Shifa left extensive damage to the radiology, burns and dialysis units, Hamas said.
“The situation in al-Shifa is catastrophic” for patients, displaced people and health workers who are crammed inside without electricity, water and food, said the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya.