Palestinian authorities announce the closure of Al Shifa Hospital due to a lack of electricity

Palestinian authorities announced this Sunday the closure of Al Shifa Hospital following increasing attacks in the area and due to the lack of electricity, a situation that has made operations in the largest hospital complex in Gaza impossible.

A spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed the closure, specifying that it is no longer feasible to provide medical services at the center, especially after the deaths of five patients.two of them were premature babies) due to power outage. He also indicated that there are still more than a hundred bodies in the hospital without being able to bury them.

Clashes between Israeli forces and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) continue near the hospital, where the Israeli army claims the Palestinian armed group’s ‘headquarters’ are located.

Palestinian sources have indicated that thousands of doctors, patients and displaced people are stuck in the area without electricity or sufficient supplies.

Israeli authorities have once again accused Hamas of creating its own organization “central command” under the hospital and to use the medical center and civilian population as ‘human shields’ to protect their bunkers and underground tunnels.

That’s why they urged staff and patients to do so leave the area to the south of the Gaza Strip to the extent possible to “avoid damage,” while the Israeli army attempts to “isolate and take control” of the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that the hospital has about 1,500 patients, more than a thousand medical staff and nearly 20,000 displaced people.