The stranglehold of the Israeli army has closed in on Gaza's hospitals. Troops are advancing into the heart of the city, surrounding the buildings with tanks and armored bulldozers. They are fighting Hamas militiamen on the ground in their immediate vicinity, under intense air support. Hospitals, the last refuge for Gazan civilians, are collapsing: Since the evening of Friday, November 10, electricity and the internet have been cut off. Oxygen is running out.

Al-Shifa, Gaza City's largest hospital, has become "an open war zone," according to the Hamas-run territory's Ministry of Health. On Sunday morning, the cardiology department was hit by a projectile. According to the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Health, based in Ramallah (West Bank), "39 children in Al-Shifa Hospital's intensive care ward are at risk of dying, and one baby has died as a result of the lack of oxygen. If fuel is not delivered to the hospitals, it will amount to a death sentence for the others."

The director general of Gaza's hospitals on Sunday begged neighboring Egypt to intervene by sending a convoy of medical vehicles to evacuate the wounded. "We are a war zone," confirmed Mohammad Hawajreh, a nurse for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) NGO. "Our offices are 300 meters from Al-Shifa. I went to the hospital yesterday [Saturday]. There were shots everywhere. In the ruined streets, the wounded and dead littered the ground. In the camps made of canvas and tents set up in Al-Shifa for the displaced, people trying to get out were being shot at. On the way back to the MSF offices, I couldn't even stop to look at the wounded people who had fallen to the ground because the shots were coming from everywhere, indiscriminately. They're firing from drones and planes. Sometimes they're snipers."

In the hospital, which is still treating some 3,000 patients, including 650 wounded unable to move about on their own, it was chaos on Saturday. "There is no longer any administration or management. I tried to find someone in charge yesterday, but no one was there. It's a catastrophic situation," added Hawajreh. "I tried to find some medical supplies for the wounded. There were none, no anesthetics. None of the generators are working because there's no fuel. There aren't many doctors left, most of them have left. Today, it's even more dangerous. People who are trying to leave are targeted, they're under siege. Save them. They're civilians!"

Among the doctors who have fled is Sara Al-Saqqa, a surgeon who evacuated on Friday. "With some colleagues, we headed for the south of the Strip. Refugees and sick people who were able to walk joined us. Doctors and nurses have chosen to stay to look after the wounded who cannot be transported, while there is no electricity, no water, no food, and oxygen has been cut off after strikes," she wrote.

You have 70% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.