Al Shifa doctor appeals for help after emergency ward reopens

Medic describes 'very urgent' need for staff at hospital site destroyed by Israeli army earlier this year

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Doctors at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital have appealed for volunteers to help serve patients as staff in its reopened emergency ward struggle to treat civilians who have remained in the area.

Emergency doctor Ali Saeed walks around the shell of the hospital's main building. In the old emergency ward, hospital beds lie untouched in rooms blackened by fire. Debris hangs from the ceiling.

“This hospital predates the Israeli occupation,” he told The National, and used to serve “hundreds of thousands of citizens in the Gaza Strip”, but has been reduced to rubble.

The hospital, Gaza's largest healthcare centre, was largely destroyed in a two-week Israeli army operation in late March, while civil defence workers found several mass graves in the complex after the Israeli withdrawal.

The main building, intensive care unit, and emergency, general surgery and orthopaedic departments were all completely destroyed, aid groups told The National at the time, saying it could take up to 20 years to fully rebuild.

The cancer centre and mortuary were also damaged beyond repair, while the hospital director and other doctors were detained by the Israeli military.

The complex was once one of the best medical facilities in Palestine, Dr Saeed said.

The emergency ward reopened last month, housed in the repurposed outpatient building, which was deemed to have best survived the Israeli military and now treats all types of cases.

The news brought hope to sick and wounded Palestinians, but doctors said there is not enough professional capacity to treat all patients in need of care.

“The closure of the emergency department is destruction of all the medical rights that any citizen living in the Gaza Strip deserves,” said Dr Saeed. “Perhaps the best service in various surgeries is not being provided here.

“The need for volunteer doctors in hospitals in northern Gaza is very urgent. We call for volunteer doctors to be provided to care for patients in various types of surgery.”

The new ward has capacity for 20 patients – a sharp decrease from the 70-bed ward it replaced. Doctors have been forced to flee the city along with many nearby residents, creating a critical need for medical staff at the hospital.

According to health ministry figures, more than 41,000 people have been confirmed killed since the war in Gaza began almost a year ago, with 94,925 others wounded. On October 7, an incursion by Hamas fighters across a heavily policed security zone into Israel caused the deaths of 1,200 people. More than 200 hostages were taken.

As the toll rises, so do efforts to rebuild the hospital, with the second phase under way, focusing on the surgery, maternity and internal medicine departments.

“Most of the departments need to be rebuilt from scratch,” said Dr Saeed.