Gaza’s second-largest hospital ‘completely out of service’

CAIRO (Reuters) : The Gaza Strip’s second-largest hospital has been put “completely out of service,” a spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.

“There are only four medical staffers currently caring for patients” inside the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, Ashraf Al-Qidra told Reuters.

“The Nasser medical complex is the backbone of health care in southern Gaza Strip. Its ceasing to function is a death sentence for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian displaced people in Khan Younis and Rafah,” he said.

Qidra said a lack of fuel and fighting around the facility had put it out of action.

Nasser was Gaza’s largest functioning hospital until Sunday and had been under siege this week in Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israeli forces raided the hospital on Thursday.