More than 50 women, children among wounded from Israel’s deadly Jabalia attack: Doctor
Dr Mohamad Salha, acting director of al-Awda Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, spoke to Al Jazeera earlier about the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp which killed at least 33, and how his facility is struggling to treat the wounded.
“We have received more than 70 injuries in our emergency department and, also, more than 30 people who were killed,” Dr Salha told Al Jazeera.
“Until now, our ambulances and the ambulances of the Ministry of Health are still bringing cases to al-Awda Hospital and another hospital,” Salha said.
“Actually, we cannot handle such a large number of injuries, which have arrived [at] our department. We have to deal with a huge number in one hour,” he said.
“More than 50 of the injured who arrived [at] the hospital are women and children,” he added.
“The injuries which arrived at our emergency department are really complicated injuries – burns and we have to do amputations for some cases … and our capacity at the hospital is not that much because the Israeli occupation forces destroyed 50 percent of our capacity in the hospital”.
Smoke rises over Gaza on October 17, 2024 [Amir Cohen/Reuters]
‘Decomposing and eaten by stray dogs’: Bodies in the streets of bombed, besieged Jabalia
Fares Afana, head of emergency services in northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that ambulance crews and rescue workers are unable to retrieve the wounded and dying in Jabalia, while the bodies of the dead are lying in the streets “decomposing and eaten by stray dogs”.
“We received several emergency calls from people in the vicinity of Abu Ghazala School. However, we cannot respond to these calls as the Israeli soldiers deployed in the area are denying us access,” Afana said.
“It is confirmed that many dead bodies as well as wounded civilians are still lying in these residential homes. We had earlier appealed to the international community, namely the Red Cross, to act swiftly to at least spare the lives of those dying victims, and recover and bury the dead,” he said.
“Many of the dead are left on the streets, decomposing and eaten by stray dogs, as the [Israeli army] continue to deny paramedics access to the bombed areas,” he added.
The Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip in August 2024 [File: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP]
Israeli forces also besiege Gaza’s al-Awda hospital
The Israeli military is also laying siege to the al-Awda Hospital in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, according to the Al Mayadeen news outlet and the Quds News Network.
Earlier, we reported that Israeli tanks had surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in nearby Beit Lahiya. Israeli forces struck the second and third floors of the hospital with artillery shells, putting medical staff and patients at serious risk, according to director Dr Marwan al-Sultan.
Displaced Palestinians are sheltering in the grounds of both hospitals. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
Director of Indonesian Hospital in Gaza says Israeli tanks have surrounded building
Israeli tanks have completely surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in Bait Lahiya, northern Gaza, and cut off the medical facility’s electricity supply, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report, citing Dr Marwan al-Sultan.
Israeli forces have bombed the hospital, targeting the second and third floors with artillery shells, putting medical staff and patients at serious risk, according to al-Sultan.
Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Gaza also reports that Israeli forces have begun demolishing parts of the hospital.
A view of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza after it was attacked by Israeli forces in November 2023 [File: Montaser Alsawaf/Anadolu]