Earlier today, a joint UN humanitarian assessment team, led by WHO, gained access to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza with the aim of evaluating the situation, conducting a rapid situational analysis, and identifying medical priorities. The team, comprising public health experts, logistics officers, and security staff from various UN agencies, including OCHA, UNDSS, UNMAS/UNOPS, UNRWA, and WHO, undertook this mission in coordination with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to ensure a secure passage along the agreed route. However, the operation took place in a high-risk environment within an active conflict zone, with intense fighting nearby.
Earlier in the day, the IDF had issued evacuation orders to the remaining 2500 internally displaced people who sought refuge on the hospital grounds. By the time of the team’s arrival, these individuals, along with some mobile patients and hospital staff, had already vacated the premises. a joint UN humanitarian
Due to security constraints, the team had only one hour inside the hospital, describing it as a “death zone” with a “desperate” situation marked by signs of shelling and gunfire. The team witnessed a mass grave at the hospital entrance, where more than 80 people were reportedly buried.
Over the past six weeks, a lack of essential resources such as clean water, fuel, medicines, and food has led Al-Shifa Hospital, once the largest and most advanced in Gaza, to cease functioning effectively. The security situation has impeded proper waste management, resulting in corridors and hospital grounds being filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection. The hospital can no longer admit patients, redirecting the sick and injured to the overwhelmed Indonesian Hospital. The staff and patients expressed fear for their safety and health, pleading for evacuation.