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Israel-Palestine conflict: No burial shrouds left as Rafah hospital records 61 deaths in 1 day

More than half of the dead are lying on the hospital's ground, spokesperson says

Published: Tue 24 Oct 2023, 12:09 PM

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A medical worker assists a premature Palestinian baby who lies in an incubator at the maternity ward of Shifa Hospital, which according to health officials is about to shut down as it runs out of fuel and power. — Reuters

A medical worker assists a premature Palestinian baby who lies in an incubator at the maternity ward of Shifa Hospital, which according to health officials is about to shut down as it runs out of fuel and power. — Reuters

Following a day of intense airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip, the Abu Youssef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah registered 61 deaths since Monday morning

Talaat Barghout, the hospital’s spokesperson, said there is no room in the morgue for all the bodies, and a lack of Islamic burial shrouds — known as the Kafan — to give the dead a proper burial.

“More than half of them are lying on the (hospital) ground,” he said.

Barghout also said the hospital lacks an intensive care unit and does not have the facilities to treat burns. There is only enough fuel to keep the basic hospital going for two more days, he added.

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Other hospitals are also in dire need of help. At least seven of the almost 30 hospitals have been forced to shut down due to damage from relentless Israeli strikes and lack of power, water and other supplies.

Doctors in the remaining hospitals said they are on the brink. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday that it has enough fuel to last three days to serve critical needs.

'Israel had no intention of curbing strikes'

Israel's military intensified its assault on Hamas militants in Gaza, as the US and other global powers called for aid to continue flowing into the besieged strip to prevent an already grave humanitarian crisis from worsening.

Israel's military said it had hit more than 400 militant targets in Gaza overnight and killed dozens of Hamas fighters, including three deputy battalion commanders.

In a statement, the military said that among the targets hit was a tunnel which allowed Hamas to infiltrate Israel from the sea and Hamas command centres in mosques. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that more than 120 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted inhabited homes in different areas of the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi suggested Israel had no intention of curbing its strikes.

"We want to bring Hamas to a state of full dismantling," Halevi said in a statement late on Monday.

"We are well prepared for the ground operations in the south," he added, referring to southern Israel, which abuts Gaza. "Troops who have more time are better prepared, and that is what we are doing now."

The Palestinian health ministry said the Gaza death toll had topped 5,000 in two weeks of Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel in which the group killed more than 1,400 people.

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