GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The director
of northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital said on Sunday the lives of more than
100 patients were in danger after electricity, oxygen and water supplies were
cut.

Hossam Abu Safiyeh said recent Israeli shelling and bombing had severely
damaged the hospital and cut the water and electricity supply to parts of it.

"The outage of electricity and water persists, and we urgently appeal to the
international community for assistance," he said.

"The situation is extremely dangerous. We have patients in the intensive care
unit and others awaiting surgeries. Access to the operating rooms is only
possible after restoring electricity and oxygen supply."

Safiyeh said the hospital currently had 112 wounded patients, including six
in intensive care and 14 children.

Continued shelling near the hospital was "preventing us from conducting
repairs", he said.

Israel on Friday said it was operating around the facility but had not fired
directly on the hospital.

Kamal Adwan is located in Beit Lahia, a city at the centre of an intense
Israeli military operation aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping in
northern Gaza.

The hospital is one of the last operational medical facilities in the north
of the territory.

The World Health Organization's representative in the Palestinian
territories, Rik Peeperkorn, said on Friday the hospital was operating at a
"minimum" level.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's surprise October 7, 2023 attack on
Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians,
according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,708
people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's Hamas-run
health ministry which the UN considers reliable.