Gaza’s hospitals are in a “catastrophic” situation. Doctors see “one patient per minute”

Israel’s response in the Gaza Strip affects all sectors of the region. Israeli restrictions are hampering work related to the rehabilitation of war wounded and the work of medical workers. Doctors working in Khan Yunis denounced this Monday the “catastrophic” situation they find themselves in due to the large number of people arriving at hospital wards, many of them children, to receive treatment, as well as the lack of medicines and other resources .

“The situation is catastrophic. Over the past seven days, we have had a continuous flow of wounded civilians. The hospital’s bed capacity has been increased. In the last hour, we have received 60 wounded civilians. That’s one patient per minute,” he said. Mohamed Qandil, director of the emergency department at Nasser Hospital, told Al Jazeera.

In addition to the large number of victims (according to the latest data, there are at least 9,700 in the Gaza Strip), doctors are faced with a shortage of emergency, trauma and surgical materials. The restrictions imposed on Gaza further aggravate this situation. Health workers fear hospitals will be unable to remain open if this scenario continues.

Gaza’s health ministry is urging civilians to go to Shifa, the hospital with the most advanced equipment. It serves approximately 800,000 people living in the Gaza Strip.

“If the hospital stops functioning, the whole world will be responsible for the lives of hundreds and thousands of patients who depend on our services,” said a ministry official quoted by Reuters.

Following the Hamas attack, Israel promised a response that would “transform the Middle East.” The retaliatory attacks killed more than 2,750 people.

Israeli forces are carrying out their heaviest airstrikes ever and are expected to launch a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a population of 2.3 million.