Gaza doctors relieved but fear for the future after Israel-Hamas ceasefire

The WHO says lone fractional of Gaza’s 36 hospitals stay partially operational aft 15 months of Israeli attacks.

After a ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas halted much than 15 months of warfare successful Gaza, Dr Jamal Salaha spoke of the alleviation helium felt arsenic dormant and wounded radical yet stopped streaming into his hospital.

“This was the archetypal clip the infirmary reception oregon the exigency section was empty,” Salaha, a wide practitioner astatine Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital successful Deir el-Balah successful cardinal Gaza, told Al Jazeera connected Monday.

A time earlier, the ceasefire had halted 471 days of relentless Israeli attacks that killed much than 47,000 Palestinians and wounded much than 111,000.

Salaha had conscionable started moving astatine Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital erstwhile the warfare erupted successful October 2023.

He worked successful the neurosurgery section for 33 days earlier being forced to relocate to Al-Aqsa Hospital owed to Israeli attacks.

Throughout Israel’s warfare connected Gaza, Salaha said helium had lone 3 days disconnected enactment and treated radical nether harrowing conditions.

“Every time we received wounded people, astir of them successful captious condition,” helium said. “We did a batch of surgeries, … including immoderate connected the level due to the fact that we did not person capable capacity. We [often] operated without gloves, without capable medicine and nary ventilators.”

When the ceasefire was announced, Salaha described it arsenic “unbelievable” quality and said helium could yet slumber much soundly again.

But helium remains cautious astir the future, citing the standard of the devastation crossed the Gaza Strip, the breakdown of its wellness strategy and the anticipation of unit reigniting.

“There is joyousness and excitement [over the ceasefire] everywhere, and radical deliberation that this ceasefire volition bring beingness backmost to normal. But this is not true,” Salaha said. “The authorities of the hospitals is precise chaotic.”

“We request a batch of medicines and aesculapian supplies successful bid to woody with each [the remaining] cases.”

The World Health Organization said connected Monday that lone fractional of Gaza’s 36 hospitals stay partially operational.

Nearly each hospitals are damaged and conscionable 38 percent of superior healthcare centres are functional, it added.

Infant incubators astatine the ransacked neonatal intensive attraction portion astatine Kamal Adwan Hospital successful Beit Lahiya successful bluish Gaza [Omar al-Qattaa/AFP]

In astir parts of the coastal enclave, the ceasefire appeared to beryllium holding contempt reports of isolated incidents of violence.

At slightest 8 radical person been injured by Israeli forces successful Rafah successful the south, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Mohammad Nemnem, a aesculapian idiosyncratic astatine the present out-of-service Kamal Adwan Hospital successful bluish Gaza, described the standard of the harm aft Israeli forces had “burned and destroyed” the facility.

“No section successful the infirmary tin connection immoderate aesculapian service,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“The infirmary needs monolithic efforts and a batch of clip to beryllium a infirmary again that tin supply radical with aesculapian services.”