The head of a beleaguered hospital in northern Gaza has described a desperate situation under “around the clock” Israeli bombardment, saying a UN aid mission had been prevented from reaching the facility and patients awaiting evacuation were stuck.
In a voice note to CNN punctuated by the sound of heavy bombardment in the background, Kamal Adwan Hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya said the “situation is very, very difficult” at the facility amid a renewed Israeli military offensive in the north of the enclave.
A UN delegation scheduled to bring fuel, medical teams, food, and other supplies was not allowed to come through, Abu Safiya said.
And 13 patients with permission to be evacuated to Gaza City were prevented by Israel from being transferred, with the military citing “ongoing difficult events,” according to Abu Safiya.
The patients, the staff accompanying them and members of the World Health Organization were “now staying with us in the hospital,” and there would be a new attempt to transfer them early Monday, Abu Safiya said.
An Israeli strike on northern Gaza this weekend killed at least 87 people, the enclave’s health ministry said. Abu Safiya said the death toll from that strike could be as high as 95, “including those missing under the rubble.”
