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Neurosurgeon describes situation at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza as ‘extremely difficult’

Nidal Abu Hadrous said he did not believe "in all special committees and organizations anymore"

NEW YORK, November 13. /TASS/. The head of neurosurgery at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza told NBC News that the situation was "extremely dangerous and difficult".

"[Because of] the shooting and bombing we cannot move out," Nidal Abu Hadrous said. "It’s not safe to move out and it’s not safe to stay. We don’t know what to do. Please help us," the news channel quoted the medic. He also said that the clinic was running out of food and he could not say when he would be able to have meals.

"Personally, we are collapsing," he went on to say. "I’m not sure how many days more we will be able to survive… I don’t believe in humanity anymore. I don’t believe in all these special committees and organizations anymore. Nobody is taking care of us. This is unbelievable. I have no words," the neurosurgeon told NBC.

On October 27, the Israeli army claimed that the main command headquarters of the Palestinian Hamas movement is located inside the central Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, which has several underground facilities and a tunnel. One of the hospital's doctors, Ghassan Abu-Sittah, reported on November 3 that only one of the medical facility's two electricity generators was functioning.

On November 11, Iran's ISNA news agency said that Israeli troops had reached the vicinity of Al-Shifa, with fierce fighting reported in the immediate vicinity of the building. On the same day, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that surgeries at the hospital had been suspended due to a lack of fuel. In turn, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the military would help evacuate children from the hospital's pediatric ward on November 12, stressing that the building was not blockaded. However, the director of the hospital, Muhammed Abu Salima, denied this information.

On Sunday evening, the Gaza government's press office reported that the Israeli army destroyed part of Al-Shifa’s intensive care, hit the top floor of the building housing the surgery, the cardiology department and the maternity ward, as well as shelled one of the medical facility's oxygen supply lines. Two premature babies and six other people died as a result. Later, Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Al-Shifa hospital has remained without electricity and water for the past three days, the inpatient department is not working and the number of deaths among patients has increased significantly.