World Health Organization: Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip is a slaughterhouse

​(Patria) - Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza provides only basic wound stabilization, has no blood for transfusions, and almost no staff to care for the constant flow of patients, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Following a UN visit to deliver medicines and surgical supplies, the team described the emergency department at the enclave's main health facility as resembling a "slaughterhouse." The WHO stated that there were hundreds of injured patients, with new ones arriving by the minute, and that wounds were being stitched on the floor with almost no possibility of wound care.

Only four out of the 24 hospitals that were operational in northern Gaza before the war with Israel began were providing even partial services, and three of them are barely functioning, the WHO said. The WHO stated it is urgently gathering information at Kamal Adwan Hospital, where Gaza authorities said Israeli forces used a bulldozer this week to breach the perimeter of a site Israel said was used by Hamas fighters. Hamas denies using Kamal Adwan or other hospitals for military activities.

Israel has said that Hamas also used Al Shifa. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza, after Israeli forces pushed most of the population south during the initial days of the bombing campaign and ground war that began following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7.

Health authorities in Gaza, under Hamas rule, say that more than 50,000 Palestinians have been injured during the Israeli operation, and 19,000 killed. Gaza is home to 2.3 million people, most of whom have been displaced from their homes due to the offensive.

The WHO stated that "tens of thousands" of displaced people are using Al Shifa hospital for shelter, describing severe shortages of safe water and food.