Jordan’s king warned that Israel’s bombing was producing a “entire generation of orphans,” while a British surgeon who oversaw an emergency medical team in central Gaza said the situation atHe said that the Al-Aqsa hospital was “beyond any doubt the worst thing” he had ever seen.
Dr. Nick Maynard told CNN’s Isa Soares on Monday, “There’s been multiple traumatic amputations of children… horrific burns, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.” His team was forced to leave the hospital due to an uptick in Israeli military action.
He highlighted the terrible humanitarian situation and scarcity of medical supplies in the Palestinian enclave after more than three months of Israeli shelling when he remarked that frequently “there is nothing at all to relieve these individuals’ agony.”
It’s safe to say that this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And I never thought I would see such a horrible condition in my life,” Maynard said on Monday after travelling from Gaza to Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have declared again and time again that civilians are not their aim. Additionally, the IDF has stated that in its efforts to drive Hamas out of the enclave, it is imperative that it hit civilian facilities such as hospitals, which it uses as cover for its attacks against Israel.
Israel has also claimed that some hospitals are being utilised as command centres, although it hasn’t offered any proof to back up that assertion.
Humanitarian organisations have warned that an increasing number of medical institutions in Gaza are unable to offer basic services, making the IDF’s operations problematic.
“I’ve been going to Gaza for the past fifteen years or so since a lot of my friends work in the medical industry there. There are several instances of attacks against hospitals. Attacks on the hospital have occurred in the two days since I left Al-Aqsa hospital, Maynard told CNN.
After spending two weeks in Gaza, the British physician called the experience “frightening” and stated that his team left as the violence drew nearer.
He declared, “The intensive care unit was the target of an attack.” “We were scheduled to depart at that time anyhow, but the Israeli Defence Forces informed us that we would not be allowed to leave when the entire area was removed from the de-confliction (zone) the next morning.”
The Israeli military has been contacted by CNN for comment, but no response has been received.
Both Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and physicians Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), were present at the hospital, according to the physician, but “both sets of foreign doctors had to leave.”
Due to increased Israeli military action in the region, MAP and the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) emergency medical team stated on Sunday that they were leaving the Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Maynard worries that “there are not enough staff to run the hospital in any form at all now,” as he and his colleagues fled Gaza for safety.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, issued a warning on Sunday, stating that Al-Aqsa Hospital was the “most important hospital remaining” in central Gaza. In addition to saying that the hospital “must remain functional,” he insisted on the protection of the medical staff and their families.
After Hamas launched its vicious attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of almost 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and the kidnapping of over 200 more, Israel started bombarding Gaza.
Since then, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, which gets its statistics from hospitals in the Gaza Strip under Hamas rule, estimates that one in every 100 persons in Gaza has died.
Since October 7, at least 23,084 Palestinians have died and 58,926 more have been injured in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, said on Monday. More over 9,000 of the deceased were children, and over 5,300 of the deceased were women, according to the Ramallah Ministry of Health.
CNN is unable to independently confirm the figures that the two ministries have given.
According to a different figure provided by the humanitarian organisation Save the Children, since October, more than ten children in Gaza have lost one or both of their legs on average every day.
International outrage at Israel’s military assault has led to calls for a ceasefire being backed by an increasing number of countries.
Over the last several weeks, the US has increased pressure on Israeli authorities to conduct more strategic strikes and safeguard civilians, but it has so far rejected demands for a ceasefire.
In a speech on Monday, King Abdullah II of Jordan stated that the battle in Gaza has left “an entire generation of orphans” as the number of casualties continues to rise.
Speaking on official television, Abdullah said that “more children have died in Gaza than in all other conflicts around the world this past year.” “A whole generation of orphans—many of the survivors—have lost one or both parents.”
According to Jordan’s Petra news agency, Abdullah made his comments while on a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial in the country’s capital.
“How can bombardment and indiscriminate attack lead to peace? Given that they are founded on hatred, how can they ensure security? Abdullah enquired.
He issued a dire warning: “We will never know true peace and stability in the Middle East without a just peace, on the basis of the two-state solution. The world will continue to pay a heavy price for failing to resolve this conflict.”
Following a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jordan’s Abdullah, the two “agreed to continue close coordination for sustained humanitarian assistance” in Gaza, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Sunday. This led to the address in Rwanda.
According to a palace statement issued following their discussion, Abdullah also cautioned Blinken about the “catastrophic consequences of the continuing war in Gaza.”
