In Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the U.N. team finds a “death zone”

Bodies of dead Palestinians who were killed in Israeli airstrikes, are seen in a truck in the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.

Abed Khaled/AP

TEL AVIV, Israel — Piles of medical and solid waste fill the crowded corridors of Gaza’s largest hospital, according to the World Health Organization. And at least 80 bodies lie in a mass grave by the hospital’s entrance.

A joint United Nations humanitarian assessment team, led by the WHO, gained the first outside access to Al-Shifa hospital Saturday and saw first hand the dire circumstances of the facility, the groups said. The team was only able to see the hospital for one hour.

In that time, they found that several patients have died in the previous two to three days due to medical services shutting down in the facility, according to the WHO. And now there are just 25 health workers for the 291 remaining patients, including 32 premature babies in “extremely critical condition.”

The hospital reported they lost power after running out of fuel to run their generators earlier this week, causing the death of some patients.

U.N. representatives described the formerly advanced and best equipped referral hospital in Gaza now as a “death zone.”

WHO working to guarantee safe passage of remaining patients

Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip along Salah al-Din Street, on the outskirts of Gaza City, in front of an Israeli army bulldozer on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.

Adel Hana/AP

Al-Shifa has transformed…