What's happened
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza has become a 'death zone' as patients are evacuated due to the Israeli raid and the lack of medical supplies.
Why it matters
The dire situation at al-Shifa Hospital underscores the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the urgent need for a ceasefire. The evacuation of critically ill patients highlights the extreme suffering caused by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
What the papers say
The Guardian says that the hospital has become a 'death zone' with a mass grave at the entrance and just 25 staff left to care for 291 seriously ill patients. Politico reports that the hospital is no longer able to function due to the lack of water, food, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies. The Times describes the hospital as a 'death zone' and emphasizes the need to restore its functionality to provide urgently needed healthcare services. The New York Times reports that the hospital has been described as a 'death zone' by U.N. workers and highlights the conflicting accounts between Israel and the U.N. regarding the mass departure of patients from the hospital.
How we got here
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza has been raided by Israeli forces, who allege that it was being used as a command center by Hamas. The hospital has been left without essential resources, including water, food, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies. The dire conditions have led to the evacuation of critically ill patients.
More on these topics
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Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.
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Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.