Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza Strip’s largest medical facility faces the danger of turning into a “mass grave” as electricity runs out. The power supply is almost diminished, which means that all the hospitals will not be able to work throughout the besieged enclave.
Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah said on Thursday, November 2, that the Gaza Strip’s largest medical facility will be turned into a mass grave as it will no longer be able to work due to a power outage. On the other hand, the aid agencies are raising concerns that all the medical facilities across the besieged city will come to a standstill unless fuel is delivered to keep power lines running. Medics are already reeling as they struggle to treat severely injured people in large numbers.
“Unless there’s electricity, this hospital will turn into a mass grave. It’s as simple as that. if we cannot keep the ventilators running. If we can’t take our critically wounded patients back to the operating room, then there’s nothing for this place other than to come and die,” Dr. Abu-Sittah told CNN. Further remarking about the ongoing crisis, he said that his hospital is currently running on a single generator, as they had to switch the other generator off due to a shortage of fuel. This means that potentially patients can not be operated due to power outage as there will be no light. “This meant that parts of the hospital had to go without light tonight,” Dr. Abu-Sittah said.
Amidst the Israeli Military’s announcement that Gaza City has been besieged, Dr. Abu-Sittah said that he is determined not to leave his hospital. “I have no plans to leave the hospital or to leave my patients. My day involves operating from 8 o’clock in the morning till very late at night. These surgeries are done out of necessity, not out of some kind of luxury. And so if I’m not there, literally there’s nobody else there to do it,” he said.
The Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, had rejected the US’ plea for a temporary cease-fire. “We won’t stop until victory,” he said. On November 3, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Prime Minister Netanyahu to urge protection for civilians in the fighting with Hamas.
