 "Medics, patients flee southern Gaza hospitals as fighting intensifies: WHO")
World Health Organization officials voiced concern on Tuesday about the possible collapse of hospitals in southern Gaza as the conflict intensifies around the city of Khan Younis, with many medical staff and patients fleeing for their lives.
"So what we're seeing is really worrying around a lot of the hospitals and an intensification of hostilities, very close to the European Gaza hospital," Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator in Gaza, told a Geneva press briefing by video link.
"We are seeing the health system collapse at a very rapid pace," he added, saying that an estimated 600 patients had fled one facility.
The United Nations humanitarian office says the intensifying Israeli offensive in central and southern Gaza has had “devastating consequences,” driving up civilian casualties, severely curtailing aid operations in the central region and risking the closure of three major hospitals.
Hamas' October 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel triggered the war and killed around 1,200 people, and militants took some 250 others hostage. Israel's air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 22,400 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
In a report released Tuesday, the medical team of The Hostages and Missing — Families Forum said at least one third of the roughly 108 hostages said to be alive in captivity suffer from chronic illnesses or conditions like diabetes, cancer or heart disease that require medical care or medication. It said 10 per cent of hostages were over 65 and were vulnerable without nursing assistance. The report also expressed concern for the hostages' mental health and for those who had been wounded during Hamas' October 7 attack against Israel.
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“If no medical care is provided urgently for all hostages, the result could be irreversible health problems at best and death at worst,” the group said.
Hamas and other militants captured some 250 people in their October attack, according to Israeli authorities. Roughly 105 people were freed in a cease-fire deal at the end of November, while around 24 have been killed in captivity