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The continual stream of wounded Palestinian children startled the international team of physicians visiting the hospital in downtown Gaza, which was swamped by casualties from Israel’s bombing and airstrikes.
Tanya Haj-Hassan, a Jordanian pediatric intensive care doctor, described the instances she had seen in the last ten hours at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
Haj-Hassan was part of a seven-person team that has been working at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital since the middle of March, organized by the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Their two-week tour provided them with a firsthand glimpse at Gaza’s shattered health sector as a result of Israel’s nearly six-month assault on the tiny enclave.
Only about a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially operational.
The rest have been rendered inoperable because to a lack of fuel and medicine, being encircled and plundered by Israeli troops, or being damaged during combat.
The remaining hospitals, particularly al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospitals, must accommodate the influx of patients despite limited resources and an overburdened workforce.
“Everyone is exhausted. Our team has been doing this for five days, and we are fatigued. I can’t image what the Gaza team, which has been here for 162 days, doing this 24/7 – 162 days without resources – is going through,” she told the AP.
A similar team visited al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in January.
This time, because Israel’s assaults in the region were increasing, it was too dangerous for the team to stay at a nearby guesthouse, so they stayed in the hospital itself, providing them a 24-hour view of the deterioration throughout their two-week visit, according to Arvind Das, the IRC’s team leader for Gaza.
The congested hallways astounded Mustafa Abu Qassim, a nurse from Jordan’s Specialty Hospital and member of the visiting team.
“Patients are laying along the passageways. “When we go looking, we don’t find rooms for the patients,” he explained.
“They’re all in the corridors, sleeping on mattresses or blankets on the floor, or in a bed that lacks fundamental components. So they’re really struggling,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital generally has a capacity of around 160 beds, but it is currently straining to accommodate approximately 800 patients, according to personnel.
Normally, it has roughly 120 employees, but many of them are no longer able to come to work, leaving a skeleton crew of physicians and nurses to handle the tremendous workload.
“Most of them have lost their children, wives, or parents,” Abu Qassim said of the health facility’s personnel.
Thousands of civilians who have been displaced by Israel’s military offensive are also residing on the hospital grounds, seeking for safety.
The crew has the same daily battle as others in Gaza to provide food for their families and protect their safety.
Das claims that the doctors have been eating sparingly, relying on tinned food. Abu Qassim explained that many people bring their children to the hospital to keep them nearby.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s shelling and offensive have killed over 32,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,000 more in the area of 2.3 million people.
Israel’s offensive was prompted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which militants killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 captives, approximately 100 of whom are still in captivity.
Since the beginning of the attack, Israel has barred entry of food, fuel, and medical supplies into Gaza, with the exception of a trickle of help entering the border at two points in the south.
The international world has urged Israel to open its borders more widely.
