Medical practitioners in Gaza issued a dire warning that many may die because hospitals were so full of injured patients that they were running dangerously short on fuel and essential supplies.
In the wake of Hamas' devastating strike last week, the embattled coastal enclave's Palestinian residents have been scrambling to obtain food, water, and protection in advance of an anticipated Israeli ground bombardment in the ongoing battle.
Warning From Healthcare Providers
The United Nations warned that thousands of people's lives may be in jeopardy if hospitals ran out of generator fuel in the next two days. Israel totally blocked off the 40-kilometer long (25-mile) region after the Hamas strike, leaving the only power plant in Gaza without fuel.
In a report by WFLA News Channel 8, intensive care units at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the south, are overflowing with injured patients, most of them being young children.
According to Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex, they anticipate running out of fuel by Monday, October 16, since so many individuals have arrived with serious explosion injuries. There are now 60 dialysis patients and 35 patients in the ICU who need ventilators to keep alive. He told the media that if fuel supplies ran out, the whole healthcare system would have to be shut down.
The chief of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, revealed that the hospital did not evacuate despite Israeli demands. Seven infants are on ventilators in the ICU, he added. "We cannot evacuate, that would mean death for them and other patients under our care."
Casualties with severed limbs, serious burns, and other potentially fatal wounds keep arriving at the hospital. The situation is scary, he said.
Worst of Gaza's Conflicts
There has been an increasing presence of United States warships in the area, and Israeli soldiers have been positioning themselves near the border of Gaza in preparation for what Israel has promised would be a massive operation to destroy the extremist organization. Israeli bombings have been so intense that whole neighborhoods have been destroyed.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began. The number is more than those killed during the over six-week-long Gaza war in 2014.
In terms of casualties, this is the bloodiest of the five Gaza confrontations. The majority of the almost 1,300 Israelis murdered since Hamas' attack on October 7 were random civilians.
Over 35,000 people, including adults and children, were jammed into Shifa, the city's primary hospital, in the hopes that it would be spared from the impending attack, according to medical authorities.
A rising lack of water and medical supplies due to the Israeli blockade has already created a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Residents complained that they were unable to obtain bread since so many bakeries had closed. Israeli restrictions have also left many people dependent on salty wells for their water needs.
