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Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza can no longer function, WHO chief says, urging evacuation

According to the United Nations health agency, 291 patients and 25 health workers remained inside the hospital

GENEVA, November 19. /TASS/. Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip can no longer function and an evacuation of all patients is needed as soon as possible, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said following an assessment mission to Gaza’s largest medical complex.

"The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel," he wrote on his page on X (formerly Twitter), adding that there was a lack of medical supplies, too.

WHO is working with partners to develop plans for the immediate evacuation of remaining patients and looking for assistance to the plan, Ghebreyesus said as he described the current situation at the hospital as desperate.

According to the United Nations health agency, 291 patients and 25 health workers remained inside the hospital. Among the patients remaining in Al-Shifa Hospital were 32 babies in extremely critical condition, WHO said.