THE director of the Gaza Strip’s main hospital raided by Israeli soldiers says the facility has now run out of oxygen and water, and patients “are screaming from thirst”.
Muhammad Abu Salmiya said the conditions were “tragic” in Al-Shifa, where there were more than 650 patients, 500 medical staff and 5,000 displaced people.
Israeli tanks were surrounding the hospital in Gaza City, he said, with drones buzzing overhead and Israeli soldiers still moving around inside, as their search of the complex lasted a second day.
Israel’s army said its operation against Hamas was proceeding in a “discreet, methodical and thorough manner”. However a journalist trapped inside the hospital, Khader, told the BBC’s Rushdi Abu Alouf by phone that Israeli troops were “everywhere, shooting in all directions”.
Mr Abu Salmiya said Israeli troops had blown up Al-Shifa’s main water line.
“Sniping operations continue, no-one can move from one building to another, and we have lost communication with our colleagues,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Khader told the BBC that Israeli troops had “stormed all departments”, destroying the southern part of the building’s wall and dozens of cars.
Before Khader’s phone line cut off, he also said that armoured bulldozers had been brought in.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that Israeli bulldozers “destroyed parts of the southern entrance” of the medical complex.
