‘This is a human catastrophe’

Amid bombardment in northern Gaza and in the south, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients.

Inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the situation kept deteriorating. The medical staff said that they are at the point where they have to decide between patients: who to save and who to let go because of the lack of capacity, medical resources, and equipment, reports Al Jazeera.

"We have 220 (kidney) patients. Half of the devices will go out of service tonight and we will not be able to do dialysis for all of them," said doctor Mohammed Zaqout. "This is a human catastrophe."

Meanwhile, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said that reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours.

"The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk," OCHA said on its website.

Health ministry official Ashraf Al-Qidra wondered how hospitals will cope. He appealed to people to head to the Shifa hospital, the largest of the territory's 13 public medical facilities, to donate blood.

"If the hospital stops working, the whole world will be responsible for the lives of hundreds and thousands of patients who rely on our services, especially from Shifa," said Qidra.

Shifa serves the entire Gaza Strip but more directly the around 800,000 people who live in Gaza City.