Gaza's doctors refuse to abandon patients as Israel bombs hospitals

Doctors in northern Gaza are sounding the alarm about a humanitarian "catastrophe" as Israel continues its ferocious bombardment of the besieged Palestinian coastal territory for a third week, media reports say.

As Israel prepares for its planned ground invasion of Gaza, it has warned residents in the north to flee south to avoid being targeted. That includes hospitals.

But health officials at Gaza's biggest hospitals have insisted the evacuation of the wounded and displaced would be impossible.

In Gaza's biggest hospital, al-Shifa, doctors are faced with a massive influx of casualties, added to the thousands of displaced civilians taking shelter there.

Bassel Amr, a volunteer ICU physician, said that the number of the wounded brought in all at once is bigger than the hospital’s capacity.

"We have 17 operation rooms that are prepared at the same time during massacres and ready to be used. But that is not enough. Most of the wounded need operations," he was quoted by the Middle East Eye as saying.  

"But we only have the capacity to deal with 17 people at a time, while the rest wait for their turn, and some die in front of your eyes and you cannot help them because the operation rooms are full," he added.

"The wounded keep dying in front of your eyes but there’s nothing we can do."

The most traumatizing situation faced by doctors is the fact that they have to prioritize some cases over others.

"We are left in a situation where we have to make the difficult decision to risk the life of one patient in order to save the life of another,"  Amr noted

Amr also pointed out that the hospital has no space for post-operative care, and many patients have to sleep in the intensive care units, which he says hinders the work of doctors. This forces doctors to treat patients on the floor.

"The hospital won't be able to deal with any other crisis in the coming days as its equipment and necessary tools are already running out," he warned.

ME