By Luis De Jesus
The only hospital still functioning in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, ceased operations on June 30. Currently, only one campaign center is offering partial medical services in the city, but it is inaccessible due to fighting, the World Health Organization reported this Saturday.
The WHO office for Palestine confirmed in a message on the social network , published the Efe news agency.
“There are two field hospitals in operation in the coastal area of Rafah, but they are completely overwhelmed given the magnitude of the needs,” the office added.
Since Israel began its operation in Rafah, the border crossing into Egypt, through which much of the humanitarian aid went to the south of the enclave, has remained closed. Furthermore, the Kerem Shalom crossing, which connects Gaza to Israel in the south, only allows the sporadic passage of humanitarian aid.
The proximity of the fighting and the shortage of supplies have forced the closure of several hospitals and clinics in recent weeks, reported the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders.
In Rafah, nearly one and a half million people were crowded together, most of them displaced from other parts of the strip since the beginning of the conflict. However, in recent weeks, more than a million people have been forced to flee as Israeli attacks expand.
Simultaneously with the confirmation of the closure of the Emirati hospital by the WHO in Palestine, the Israeli military body that manages civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (Cogat) announced the opening of a maternity complex in Deir al Balah, in the center from Gaza.
Recently, in the same area, a 13-year-old minor died with symptoms of starvation, Palestinian media reported this Saturday, while the humanitarian group Action Against Hunger began a program to combat malnutrition in minors and pregnant women through supplements based on lipids.
According to Cogat, the new maternity complex is joined by two new generators, located in the field hospital of the International Medical Corps, in Deir al Balah, which will increase the center’s capacity to up to 200 simultaneous patients.
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