Northern Gaza faces medical crisis as remaining hospitals are overwhelmed amid war

Geoff Bennett:

Today, more chaos and carnage in Southern Gaza, as Israeli airstrikes near dawn killed at least 38 Palestinians, including 13 children in Khan Yunis.

In Northern Gaza, the U.N. said Israeli soldiers today raided the final working hospital there. The Kamal Adwan Hospital is in the middle of an area where Israeli forces had been operating for the last three weeks, saying Hamas had regrouped there. Today's raid and what the U.S. and U.N. call extremely limited humanitarian aid have created a medical crisis.

Nick Schifrin's report begins inside the hospital.

And a warning:

Some of the images in this story are disturbing.

Nick Schifrin:

It is supposed to be the home of healing, but its director warns it's becoming a mass grave. A mother lies with her son, who died in the Kamal Adwan Hospital because its staff didn't have enough supplies to save him.

Many of the patients have wounds too graphic to show. Many of the wounded in this war waged by adults are children, who are being treated without anesthesia. Kamal Adwan is supposed to be a small hospital with a capacity for about 50. These days, it is overwhelmed by 150 to 200 patients.

One of the wounded dies every hour, the sounds of pain interrupted only by the echoes of war right outside the walls.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is the hospital's director and sent this audio via the NGO MedGlobal.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director, Kamal Adwan Hospital:

As you see now, there is one being near our hospital. We are suffering from a lack of medications and medical supply and medical stuff. One day before one, one — our team doctor was killed.

He has been trying to alert the world, posting online, appealing for blood and supplies in conditions he describes as catastrophic.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya:

We appeal to the world to intervene to preserve our hospitals, and we want international protections for our medical staff, because we are working under stress and under fear and under bombardment. So we need the help.

Nick Schifrin:

The dead long ago lost their dignity. Few ambulances can reach here, so bodies arrive by donkey cart. Outside the hospital, the scene is apocalyptic.

This was filmed by Georgios Petropoulos of the U.N.'s coordination agency.

Georgios Petropoulos, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: There's fires everywhere. There were schools on fire. The hospital was not at capacity, but beyond capacity, not only of the beds, but of the patients' ability to be seen by adequate medical staff. There simply weren't enough medical staff.

Nick Schifrin:

Earlier this week, he was part of a mission that evacuated 14 critically ill patients, including stopping at Israeli checkpoints.

Georgios Petropoulos:

The ambulances that were parked about 50 meters away from the Israeli soldiers are opened, and the paramedics bring one by one the patients to the soldiers and put them on the ground. This meant that there were people with amputated legs, children with colostomy bags, open wounds.

They're on the ground. There's APCs and tanks passing by. There's dust everywhere. It is, I think, one of the least dignified and humane things that I have ever seen in my life.

Nick Schifrin:

Petropoulos leads the coordination between the U.N. and the Israel Defense Forces to be sure these convoys stay safe.

Is the coordination working?

Georgios Petropoulos:

The coordination is working in the sense that there's communication. What there isn't is continuous and sustainable respect for international humanitarian law and the fundamental principle that surrounds it, which simply says that a party to the conflict has to enable aid workers to get to people in need.

Nick Schifrin:

Kamal Adwan is in the middle of a three-week-old Israeli operation in Northern Gaza that's focused on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp.

The Israeli military says Hamas has regrouped here, storing weapons and explosives in local schools and in the waiting rooms of U.N. medical clinics. Jabalia still has terrorist infrastructure, and Hamas' leaders that must be targeted, says Israel's top general, Herzi Halevi.

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff, Israeli Defense Forces (through interpreter): Jabalia is falling. This is another psychological collapse. And if we take out the Northern Gaza brigade commander, it's another collapse. This pressure brings us closer to more achievements.

Nick Schifrin:

To do that, Israel has tried to evacuate 400,000 residents who have to wait for permission to pass and begin a long journey by foot, looking for safety this war zone has so far denied.

The violence has been intense. Israel says Hamas has tried to keep residents here, but Israeli restrictions have left the residents without basic needs.

Georgios Petropoulos:

There is no water anymore in Jabalia. We haven't been able to take food there in weeks. The primary indicator of what's happening is that people are dying under the rubble.

Nick Schifrin:

Under U.S. pressure, Israel has recently allowed hundreds of aid trucks to reach Northern Gaza. But the U.S. says it's not enough and that Israel must reject a plan proposed by retired generals to starve North Gaza, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken .

Antony Blinken , U.S. Secretary of State: We reject any effort to create a siege, to starve people, to hive off Northern Gaza from the rest of Gaza.

Nick Schifrin:

Israel insists that is not their policy. But, today, North Gaza residents are once again displaced, dying and suffering wounds of war.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.