AID groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an “unimaginable” situation in which large open wounds were left untreated.
An emergency medical team organised by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis.
The southern city has been the site of heavy fighting since the beginning of the year with the hospital expanding to 1000 beds from its original capacity of 200 to accommodate patients from Nasser Hospital – the main hospital in Khan Younis which Israeli forces raided last month.
READ MORE: Steph Paton: Rainbow bans and ‘woke’ flags should not be priority
There are an estimated 22,000 people currently sheltering at the European Gaza Hospital.
The visiting surgeons “reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardising patient treatment".
The emergency medical team was organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
In a statement released on Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital.
It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilise broken bones.
Elsewhere, the UN agency UNRWA has said Israel has barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.
Sam Rose, the agency’s planning director, said: “An independent authority warned last week of an imminent famine and people are already dying of starvation up in the north.
“And this is essentially a dead sentence on many of those people. The situation is particularly harsh in northern Gaza, where we estimate that about 250,000 people have been trapped.”
He also stressed that “more people will die” if UNRWA is continued to be prevented from delivering aid.
Reports have also suggested that Palestinians who fled the ongoing siege of al-Shifa Hospital were crushed by Israeli tanks.
One witness, Jameel al-Ayoubi, said that armoured bulldozers and tanks drove over at least four bodies in the hospital courtyard, the Associated Press news agency reports.
The Israeli army says there have been around 500 arrests since the week-old operation began at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
READ MORE: SNP MP 'targeted by China' in cyber-attacks on UK
Jets also attacked around 50 targets throughout the Gaza Strip overnight with a military statement saying helicopters and drones struck several other targets and killed around 10 Hamas fighters.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and experts warn that even more are at risk of dying from disease and starvation.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here