Situation inside Gaza hospital has reached the breaking point, says Canadian aid worker

Aid workers atNasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip arepleading for more suppliesascritically wounded Palestiniansflood the Khan Younismedical facility.

"We have to ration off the soap and the hand sanitizer because supplies haven't come in and we can't disinfect properly," said Amy Kit-Mei Low,an emergency room nurse from Montreal working for Doctors Without Bordersat the hospital.

"It's not safe medically as well, becausethe lack of space, the overpopulation of patients that are in there and alsothe lack of supplies. We don't have the cleaning supplies, we don't have sterilization paper. We don't have hand sanitizer.

"And certain medications as well. I went to the pharmacy today and they said they didn't have enough pain medications for the maternity department. So there's just, huge gaps and a lot of suffering."

With the war between Israel and Hamasin its 10th month, Gaza's Health Ministry saidatleast 70 people were killed and200 injured in Khan Younis on Monday byIsraeli fireafter its military ordered civilians to evacuate a humanitarian zone in order to carry out attacks against Hamas militants.

WATCH | Palestinians forced to flee their homes due to Israeli military strikes:

Strikes in eastern Khan Younis force Palestinians to flee their homes

1 month ago

Duration 1:28

After civilians were ordered to evacuate, the Israel Defence Forces targeted an area east of Khan Younis, leaving at least 70 people dead and 200 injured, according to officials in the Gaza Strip.

"They didn't give people enough time to evacuate," Lowsaid in an interview on Tuesday. "Alot of people were hit."

"They kept striking us and forced us to leave our homes," Khan Younisresident Muhammad Awaidasaid in an interview.

"I came outsideand found my niece thrown and my siblings thrown," Adel Abu Hammadsaid. "I found them all in pieces."

'There is nothing left after Nasser'

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-ledmilitants crossedthe border and attackedIsraelon Oct. 7, killing about1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage, according toIsraeli tallies. The attacks led to an Israeli offensive into Gaza that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, says the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its numbers.

According to Doctors Without Borders, Nasser Hospital is the last tertiary hospital providing maternal and pediatric care in the region. But aid workers say it'sstrugglingto meet the needs of women and children because ofan influx of woundedpatientsand a shortage of criticalsupplies.

"There have been injured patients arriving all day consistently," Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, the medical team leader for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza,said in a video message posted to X, formerly Twitter.

"It's causing an immense strain to the staff. My own colleagues themselves live in the evacuation zone and have been in tears today. There is nothing left after Nasser. If we have to close NasserHospital, there is nowhere for the 400 to 600 patients [to go] that might be here."

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Traces of the disease, which is spread through fecal matter, were found in wastewater samples collected fromtwo cities in southern and central Gaza.

"I think that just speaks to the water and sanitation conditions that are here," said Low, the ER nurse from Montreal. "A lot of people don't realize that when a war breaks out, everything stops."

Lowsaidthe onlyway to helpthe injured andprotect civiliansin Gaza is for the fighting to come to an end.

"There needs to be a ceasefire. You can't stop the suffering without a ceasefire. Hospitals can't get back to normal," she said.

"It's the worst place to be on Earth right now," Lowsaid. "There's nosecurity here. People are living in such precarious conditions."