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Non-functional
Al-Nasr Children's Hospital
Facility Type
Speciality Hospital
Ownership type
Government sector (
Ministry of Health - Gaza
)
Governorates / District
Gaza
Address
Al-Nasr area – Al-Nasr Main Road
Founding Year
1961
Facility director
Mustafa Al-Kahlot
Beds Capacity
145
Number of workers
273
List of medical specialties and services
Child health
Physiotherapy
Emergency medicine
Diabetes services
Respiratory medicine
Pharmacy
Internal medicine
Respiratory medicine
Cardiology
Outpatient clinics
Pediatric cardiology
Newborn services
Non-communicable diseases
Communicable diseases
Pediatric intensive care
Equipment and facilities
Ultrasound scan
Radiology
Laboratory services
Pharmacy
Description (About the Facility)

Al-Nasr Children's Hospital is a government hospital located on Al-Nasr Street in Gaza City and is part of the Al-Nasr Medical Complex, built in 1961.

In 2021, the number of employees at Al Nasr Children's Hospital was 270, including 53 doctors and 119 nurses. In 2007, the number of beds in the hospital was 151, including 33 beds in the reception and emergency department[1].

 

Departments:

- Reception and emergency department.

- Nursery department.

Outpatient clinics[2].

Intensive Care[2].

Physiotherapy department[3].

Hematology department[4].

Pharmacy department[4].

Laboratory department[4].

Radiology department[4].

funding source
- Mab Yuki Foundation[5]. - Save the Children Foundation[5]. - Palestine Refugee Relief and Works Agency[5]. - World Health Organization[5]. - International Red Cross[5]. - Palestine Children's Relief Society[5]. - Australian Friends of Palestine Society[
Effect of siege (2007 - 2023)

In 2008: According to an ICRC report, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital suffered from fuel shortages and power outages due to the siege. The hospital had no electric lights except for in the infant and pediatric intensive care units, and was unable to receive any patients or perform any diagnostic and elective surgeries except for emergency cases[9].

In 2009: During the Gaza Massacre, Israeli bombing of the vicinity of the hospital shattered the hospital's windows[10].

In 2014: The Ministry of Health warned of a power outage inside the hospital due to a severe fuel shortage, and daily surgeries in Gaza’s hospitals were completely suspended for the two consecutive days due to a strike by cleaners[11].

In 2015: After a major shortage of dialysis filters and blood transfusion tubes, the hospital’s management warned that dialysis services would cease. The hospital also faced financial challenges due to the fact that the grants received by the Ministry of Health each month were not enough to cover the needs of one-third of the patients at the hospital[12].

In 2016 : The hospital faced a fuel crisis and another power outage that threatened the work of the hospital[13].

In 2018: The nursery department at the hospital faced challenges, including power outages, a lack of basic supplies and treatments such as ampicillin and Servactant, as well as the breakdown of several devices, such as incubators and a jaundice detector. The hospital's intensive care unit also needed ventilators[14].

Also in 2018: The intensive care unit at Al Durra Children's Hospital was closed due to lack of fuel, and patients were transferred to Al Nasr Children's Hospital, increasing the capacity of the ICU at the hospital by 50%. Al-Nasr Hospital also suffered from a shortage of many medicines and overcrowding of patients in the hospital increased the rate of infection among children[15].

narrative during this war

On November 4, 2023: Occupation forces reportedly bombed the entrance to the Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, killing two people and wounding many others[16][17].

On November 7, 2023: Occupation forces besieged the hospital[18].

On November 9, 2023: Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra announced that occupation forces besieged and attacked the hospital, destroying medical equipment[19].

The Ministry of Health also announced that all medical services at the hospital were suspended, and that the intensive care unit and the nursery only operated with a small generator. Ambulances were unable to reach the hospital to evacuate injuries resulting from the targeting and shelling of the hospital[20][21].

On November 10, 2023: Occupation forces surrounded the hospital with tanks and forced the medical staff to evacuate the hospital, leaving premature babies in the incubators[22].

On November 11, 2023: Occupation military tanks continued to surround the hospital[23].

On November 28, 2023 : The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported on the murder of premature babies by occupation soldiers. The bodies of the babies were found decomposing inside of Al-Nasr Hospital after the occupation forced all staff to evacuate the hospital, leaving the babies inside. The Euro-Med Monitor called for the establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate the killing of five Palestinian newborn babies who were left behind after the Israeli army forced the staff to evacuate. The hospital’s director Dr. Mustafa al-Kahlout also stated that he appealed for help from international organizations and the ICRC, but that he did not receive a response. He noted that he informed an Israeli army officer that the five children needed respirators and could not be moved, and the officer replied that he was aware of the situation[24].

On November 29, 2023: Footage circulated of the decomposing bodies of premature babies at the hospital after the facility was forcibly evacuated on November 10[22].

On January 1, 2024: Al Jazeera reported of the total destruction of hospital[25].

On February 16, 2024: Media sources circulated videos of decomposing bodies of children on intensive care beds at the hospital[26].

Secondary testimonies/data:

According to Dr. Mona Yousef's testimony to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, she was forced to evacuate patients and internally displaced people from the hospital to the southern part of the Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023, and reported that the hospital was repeatedly subjected to gunfire and artillery attacks, in addition to being surrounded by occupation tanks. According to her testimony, medical staff were forced to leave two babies in the care unit, two in the nursery, and a fifth baby with Down syndrome with an orphan girl whose entire family was killed. The Israeli officer confirmed in a phone call with the hospital director that all the remaining infants were saved, but the occupation forces actually killed the babies, leaving them to die and their bodies to decompose[24].

On November 24, 2023: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) deputy medical coordinator Dr. Mohammed Abu Mugheisab said that a staff member was volunteering at the hospital and reported that the children's hospital was directly targeted by tanks[27][i]

On November 10, 2023: The family of an MSF staff member was displaced to the hospital, where the doctor was volunteering. According to the doctor's testimony, the occupation army first hit the children's dormitory on the second floor, and the Israeli forces also targeted the first floor, water tanks, electricity and water sources.

"Life in Al-Nasr Hospital stopped, and the medical equipment in the intensive care unit stopped working, including ventilators. The army started firing shells indiscriminately in our direction."

According to the testimony, a doctor at al-Nasr Hospital informed the Israeli army that there were patients and displaced people inside the hospital, yet the occupation forces repeatedly threatened to evacuate the hospital. A doctor tried to secure ambulances to transport the patients, but the army refused the request and prevented any relief vehicles from reaching the hospital. The doctor at the hospital asked ambulances to come to the hospital, however, none of the vehicles were able to arrive. At the same time, the occupation army used snipers, targeting anyone who tried to move or leave the hospital. One of the doctors asked the army for a safe passage, and the army agreed, but when people began leaving the hospital the occupation forces started shooting at them. The occupation army then ordered an evacuation between 11:30 a.m. and noon. According to the testifying doctor, they then left waving white flags, five children remained in intensive care on respirators, and the staff managed to save one infant who was later transferred to al-Shifa Hospital's nursery.

“To see patients die in front of us is the hardest feeling I experienced in my life. It is an indescribable feeling. Our hearts broke for them. We couldn't help them, take them, or treat them. We could barely get ourselves and our children out. We are civilians, a medical team, and displaced civilians”[27].

The main targeting and assaults During the genocide

Related testimonies

Related testimonies

محمد بعلوشة - صحفي لدى قناة المشهد
شهادة الصحفي الشهيد محمد بعلوشة حول مجزرة الخدج في مستشفى النصر
- وسائل التواصل الإجتماعي
مصطفى الكحلوت - مدير مستشفى النصر والرنتيسي للأطفال
مدير مستشفى النصر للأطفال يتحدث عن خروج المشفى عن الخدمة
- وزارة الصحة الفلسطينية (غزة)
- ممرض في مستشفى النصر للأطفال
ممرض نازح يروي تفاصيل حصار مستشفى النصر للأطفال
- شبكة الجزيرة الإعلامية
طبيبة فلسطينية - طبيبة أطفال في مستشفى النصر للأطفال
شهادة توثق إجلاء النازحين والطواقم الطبية من مستشفى النصر للأطفال
- وسائل التواصل الإجتماعي
مصطفى الكحلوت - مدير مستشفى النصر للأطفال
تعرض مستشفى النصر للأطفال للقصف المباشر
- شبكة الجزيرة الإعلامية
Sources
  1. Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Annual Report 2021.
  2. Ma'an News Agency, News release.
  3. Al-Rantisi – Naser for Children, Facebook.
  4. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, Research Paper.
  5. Ma'an News Agency, News release. 
  6. Sawa – Palestinian News Agency, News release .
  7. Palestinian Press Agency "Safa”, News release .
  8. Egypt Healthcare Authority, YouTube.
  9. International Committee of the Red Cross, Interview from the archive .
  10. International Committee of the Red Cross, Periodic Report .
  11. Palestine Today Channel, News release.
  12. The New Arab Newspaper, News release 
  13.  Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, News release.
  14. Palestinian Businessmen Association, Gaza Governorate, Report
  15. Palestine Online, News release .
  16. Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Telegram.
  17. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report.
  18. Al Jazeera Media Network, Facebook .
  19. Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, Telegram.
  20. Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, Telegram .
  21. UNICEF, Press Release .
  22. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report .
  23. Journalist Youssef Fares, Telegram .
  24. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, News release .
  25. Al Jazeera Media Network, News release .
  26. Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, News release .
  27. Doctors Without Borders - Médecins Sans Frontière, Report.