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\u2018We are minutes away from death\u2019: Gaza\u2019s al-Shifa Hospital under attack | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military has brought the war to the front gates of al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza\u2019s biggest hospital complex, where thousands of injured and displaced people are trapped amid ferocious bombardment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are minutes away from imminent death,\u201d Muhammad Abu Salmiya, al-Shifa Hospital\u2019s directorm told Al Jazeera from inside the besieged facility on Saturday, where operations had to be suspended after it ran out of power and fuel.<\/p>\n
Abu Salmiya said al-Shifa\u2019s buildings are being targeted and any person moving within the hospital compound is being attacked by Israeli snipers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne member of a medical crew who tried to reach the incubator to lend a helping hand to the babies born inside was shot and killed,\u201d he said. \u201cWe lost a baby in the incubator, we also lost a young man in the intensive care unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaza Deputy Health Minister Dr Youssef Abu al-Reesh, who is currently inside al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera that all generators are off and all power sources are now out in the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 39 newborns in the incubators, those babies are fighting against death.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said snipers were stationed around the compound and people inside were unable to move around freely.<\/p>\n
\u201cFerocious gunfire can be heard within the vicinity of the hospital, the intensive care unit received a mortar shell a few minutes ago \u2026 Blood is everywhere, on the floor, we cannot even clean it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Located in the northern Rimal neighbourhood, close to the port, al-Shifa became a hospital in 1946, undergoing successive expansions. The facility has become a lifeline for people seeking urgent medical intervention.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people who have lost their homes in Israel\u2019s continuing bombardment are also living in the hospital corridors and courtyard.<\/p>\n
Israel claims al-Shifa provides cover for a Hamas command centre, an accusation the hospital\u2019s director has rejected as \u201cutter lies\u201d. Hamas also rejects the claims.<\/p>\n
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, who is visiting the region, has said that any armed group who uses civilian infrastructure to shield itself is contravening the laws of war. However, he added: \u201cBut such conduct by Palestinian armed groups does not absolve Israel of its obligation to ensure that civilians are spared \u2026 Failure to do so is also in contravention of the laws of war \u2013 with devastating impact on civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s diplomatic correspondent James Bays remarked: \u201cSo that\u2019s the top human rights official saying that targeting a hospital is a war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bays also noted that none of the doctors or staff at al-Shifa have reported seeing Hamas members in the hospital for years.<\/p>\n Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF, supplied al-Shifa with the medicines and equipment that it still has in its stock. Early on Saturday, the NGO posted on X<\/a> that it was unable to contact its staff inside the hospital and was \u201cextremely concerned\u201d about the patients and medics.<\/p>\n\u2018We cannot bury our dead\u2019<\/h2>\n