Gaza European Hospital Explained

European Gaza Hospital
مستشفى غزة الاوروبي
Coordinates:31.304°N 34.3199°W
Location:Al-Fukhari
Region:Gaza Strip
Country:Palestine
Funding:UNRWA
Type:hospital
Constructed:1989

The European Hospital is a public hospital in Al-Fukhari near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine. It was founded by the UNRWA with a grant from the European Union in 1989.

Initial construction costs for the 232-bed European Hospital were estimated at $45 million. The goal was providing primary and secondary healthcare for Gaza residents. [1] The hospital was still under construction in 1999.[2]

In 2019, the hospital served an estimated 17,500 patients a month. It is one of the three main referral hospitals in the Gaza Strip. According to a UNDP report, the hospital provides laboratory services, imaging services (CT, MRI, X-ray), intensive care units, and specialised surgeries.[3]

2023 Israel-Hamas war

See also: Attacks on health facilities during the Israel–Hamas war. On 31 October 2023, Israeli air raids targeted the vicinity of the European Hospital.[4] On 13 November Tom Potokar, chief Red Crescent surgeon at the hospital, wrote on Twitter that he was treating many patients for shrapnel wounds. [5]

On 19 November, after the Al-Shifa Hospital siege ended with Israeli forces controlling Al-Shifa Hospital, the World Health Organization stated it was planning missions to transport the remaining Al-Shifa patients to the European Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex in the next 2-3 days.[6] On 23 November, the head of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee at the Indonesia Hospital stated that patients and staff at Indonesia Hospital had been evacuated to the European Hospital.[7]

In May 2024, foreign healthcare workers serving at European Hospital were trapped inside Gaza when Israel seized control of the Rafah Border crossing.[8] Tammy Duckworth advocated for the evacuation of one of the stranded doctors, Adam Hamawy, who she credits with saving her life after she was injured in Iraq. Hamawy spoke to The Washington Post about the supply shortages and the many wounded children he had been treating in European Hospital.[9]

In July 2024, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ordered an evacuation of the area where the European Hospital is located, later releasing a statement that the hospital was not included in the order.[10] Staff, patients, and displaced people left the hospital with difficulty due to the condition of the roads and some of the patients.[11] [12] Many evacuated to Nasser Hospital.[13] While it was closed, many supplies were stolen.[14] [15] The hospital re-opened in September with limited capacity.

Several foreign doctors have volunteered at European Hospital and spoken to the press about their experiences there.[16] According to Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidwa, they had never before witnessed "cruelty" like they did in Gaza, despite serving on multiple humanitarian missions in developing countries, natural disasters, and war zones.[17] [18] Perlmutter has reported that 90% of the emergency room patients he encountered were children and that some appeared to have been deliberately targeted by IDF snipers.[19] [20] In July 2024, 45 doctors, including Perlmutter and Sidwa, wrote an open letter to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to advocate for a ceasefire and arms embargo.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brynen, Rex . A Very Political Economy: Peacebuilding and Foreign Aid in the West Bank and Gaza . United States Institute of Peace Press . 2000 . 196 . 9781929223046 .
  2. Book: Ishac . Diwan . Ishac Diwan . Radwan A. . Shaban . Development Under Adversity: The Palestinian Economy in Transition . Mustafa . Barghouthi . Mustafa Barghouti . Jean . Lennock . Radwan A. . Shaban . Managing the Growth of the Health Sector . 1999 . The World Bank . 174 .
  3. Web site: June 2019  . Solar Electrification of the Health System in the Gaza Strip: Opportunities & Challenges  . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231214111323/https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/migration/ps/UNDP-papp-research-SEHReport.pdf . 14 December 2023 . 18 October 2023 . UNPD.org  . United Nations Development Programme  . 31-32 .
  4. Web site: Joseph . Stepansky . Farah . Najjar . Dozens killed in Israeli air attack on refugee camp, Gaza officials say . 2023-10-31 . Al Jazeera . en.
  5. Web site: Surgeon Dr. Tom Potokar shares on the situation from European Hospital, Gaza. . X . International Committee of the Red Cross . 13 November 2023 . 13 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231113235546/https://twitter.com/ICRC/status/1724163278572597395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1724163278572597395%7Ctwgr%5E78a7cd78ba86ee0532e86d8148dc1907f48297a9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/13/israel-hamas-war-live-gazas-two-largest-hospitals-shut-amid-nonstop-raids . live .
  6. Web site: Diaz . Jaclyn . 31 premature babies are evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital to southern Gaza . NPR . 19 November 2023.
  7. Web site: Léonie . Chao-Fong . Maya . Yang . Martin . Belam . Helen . Livingstone . 23 November 2023 . Al Jazeera is reporting that the Indonesia hospital in Gaza has been evacuated. . The Guardian . 23 November 2023.
  8. News: Haydar . Nour . Doherty . Ben . 2024-05-20 . Australian doctor trapped in Gaza hospital begs government to evacuate medical team . 2024-09-21 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  9. News: Bellware . Kim . 2024-05-17 . American doctors in Gaza see up-close toll of war weapons on children . https://archive.today/20240518153237/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/17/tammy-duckworth-adam-hamawy/ . 2024-05-18 . 2024-09-21 . Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.
  10. Web site: Stambaugh . Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman, Michael Schwartz, Alex . 2024-07-02 . Israeli military orders new evacuations in southern Gaza, prompting evacuation of European Hospital . 2024-09-21 . CNN . en.
  11. Web site: 2024-07-02 . Why Israel ordered yet another evacuation of Gaza’s Khan Younis . 2024-09-21 . Al Jazeera . en.
  12. Web site: Hurwitz . Sophie . Inside one of the last hospitals in Gaza . 2024-09-21 . Mother Jones . en-US.
  13. Web site: Supply shortages and patient influxes leave Nasser hospital at breaking point MSF . 2024-09-21 . www.msf.org . en.
  14. News: 2024-07-19 . We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable. . Politico.
  15. Web site: Hurwitz . Sophie . One of the only hospitals in Gaza just reopened . 2024-09-21 . Mother Jones . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2024-07-24 . Inside Gaza’s destroyed healthcare system: ‘Patients scream for their loved ones’ . 2024-09-21 . The Independent . en.
  17. Web site: Opinion As Surgeons, We Have Never Seen Cruelty Like Israel’s Genocide in Gaza Common Dreams . 2024-09-21 . www.commondreams.org . en.
  18. News: 2024-07-19 . We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable. . Politico.
  19. Web site: Akbarzai . Sahar . CNN . 2024-07-26 . ‘We cannot remain silent about what we saw.’ US medical workers demand Gaza ceasefire in letter to Biden and Harris . 2024-09-21 . CNN . en.
  20. Web site: Smith . Tracy . 2024-07-21 . Children of Gaza - CBS News . 2024-09-21 . www.cbsnews.com . en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gaza European Hospital".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.