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Non-functional
Muhammad Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital
Facility Type
General Hospital
Ownership type
Government sector
Governorates / District
Rafah
Address
El-Geneina neighborhood – Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Street, near Al-Sunna Mosque
Founding Year
2000
Facility director
Marwan Al-Hams
Beds Capacity
109
Number of workers
362
List of medical specialties and services
Child health
General medicine
Physiotherapy
Emergency medicine
Ear, nose and throat
Pharmacy
Internal medicine
Orthopedics
General surgery
Orthopedic surgery
Outpatient clinics
Non-communicable diseases
Communicable diseases
Dialysis
Equipment and facilities
Dialysis
Ultrasound scan
Radiology
Laboratory services
Pharmacy
Description (About the Facility)

Martyr Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital is a government hospital located in the al-Janina neighborhood, east of Rafah. It is the only governmental hospital in the Rafah governorate and the smallest governmental hospital in Gaza[1]. The hospital, which opened as a primary care clinic in 2000, was turned into an emergency hospital later that year on 25 October 2000, a month after the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada. A new building was inaugurated in 2007, making it a fully equipped hospital[2].

Development

When the hospital opened in 2000 it had two operating rooms and a capacity of 34 beds. The 2007 expansion of the hospital added a new building with three stories, including space for operation rooms, a radiology department, and a cardiac unit in the new building and a reception department and outpatients clinic in the old building[2].

In addition, the hospital was further expanded in 2009 with a pediatric day treatment department that has a capacity of 8 beds and a large radiology department. A new water line was also added. 

As of 2022, the number of health staff in the hospital reached 362 employees, including 95 doctors and 114 nurses[3].

Funding Details
In 2016: The Omani National Initiative for Palestine Support provided dialysis chairs to the hospital[4].

In 2018: The Ataa Palestine Charitable Society, funded by the Japanese government, provided the hospital with solar energy[5].

In 2020: The International Islamic Charity Organization, in coordination with the Turkish Shams Association for Women and Children and the Future Eve Association, funded nine dialysis machines[6].
Effect of siege (2007 - 2023)

The Martyr Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital has faced many challenges as a result of the siege and previous wars. During the 2014 Rafah massacre, occupation forces bombed the side of the hospital, and the hospital administration received calls threatening to prevent the evacuation of the hospital and bomb anyone who came out of it[7].

Due to the small capacity of the hospital, there was a call to build another hospital nearby, which Qatar addressed in 2020. Qatari charitable organizations announced their donation to fund the construction of the hospital under the direct supervision of the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Health. In 2021, it was agreed to establish a new hospital in Rafah in the Sultan neighborhood, which according to the Ministry of Health's plan included specialized buildings with a total capacity of 355 beds. The work was halted due to the Israeli aggression on Gaza in May 2021, as crossings were closed and severe restrictions on the entry of construction materials were imposed. Since then, Gaza has been subject to several Israeli attacks leading up to the current aggression in October 2023, preventing the start of construction[8].

 

narrative during this war

Due to the displacement of Gaza residents from the north to the south, the Martyr Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital was unable to cope with the large number of martyrs and wounded it receives. In addition, the hospital suffered from a lack of medical equipment and fuel.  The hospital's spokesperson, Talat Barghout, reported that there was no more space in the morgue to store bodies, and that they had run out of shrouds[9]. The hospital's director, Dr. Marwan al-Hams, stated that the hospital was severely pressured due to its small size, being the only government hospital in the Rafah governorate, the high number of casualties, and it not having an intensive care unit.

On November 20, 2023: Occupation forces bombed two residential buildings near the hospital, 17 were martyred and 15 wounded[10].

On December 12, 2023: Director of the hospital, Dr. al-Hams, announced that diarrhea and influenza was spreading among displaced people inside Rafah, with 1,500 cases of intestinal diseases recorded daily due to lack of food[11].

On December 25, 2023: Director al-Hams announced that large numbers of internally displaced people have contracted smallpox and skin diseases[12].

On January 31 ,2024: The hospital announced the transfer of its pediatric service (inpatient and emergency departments) to Al-Awda Health Center in the central market in Rafah[13].

On February 3, 2024: Occupation forces bombed a residential building near the hospital, 11 were martyred and 27 wounded[14].

On February 12, 2024: Al-Kofia TV quoted Director al-Hams, saying that the number of sick and injured inside the hospital exceeded six times its capacity[15].

On March 11, 2024: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society evacuated 96 critically ill patients from the Martyr Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital to the Rafah Field Hospital for intensive care[16]. 

On April 3, 2024: Local media reported that a quadcopter flew over the hospital and was shot at by the resistance[17]. 

On May 7, 2024: Occupation forces forced the patients and medical staff to evacuate the hospital and put it out of service[18].

On May 22, 2024: The WHO stated that the hospital still was out of service[19].

On May 24, 2024: Occupation forces targeted with artillery the vicinity of the hospital [20].

On May 26, 2024: Local media outlets reported that occupation forces vehicles were stationed north of the hospital[21].

The main targeting and assaults During the genocide

Bombing of two residential buildings near Martyr Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital

Occupation forces bombed two residential buildings near the hospital, 17 were martyred and 15 wounded.

Bombing of a residential building near Martyr Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital

Occupation forces bombed a residential building near the hospital, 11 were martyred and 27 wounded.

Martyr Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital goes out of service

Occupation forces forced the patients and medical staff to evacuate the hospital and put it out of service.

Sources
  1. Ma'an Online News Agency, Web Archive. 
  2. Palestinian Ministry of Health Gaza, Web Archive.
  3. Palestinian Ministry of Health Gaza, Annual Report 2022.
  4. Dunia Al Watan Online Newspaper, News release. 
  5. Give Palestine Association, News release.
  6. Palestinian News Agency, News release.
  7. Al Jazeera Media Network, YouTube.
  8. The New Arab newspaper, Press report .
  9. Zaman Al Wasl Newspaper, News release.
  10. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report .
  11. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report .
  12. Al-Shorouk News Portal, News release.
  13. Martyr Mohammed Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital, Facebook.
  14. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report. 
  15. Al-Kufiya Channel, News release.
  16. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report. 
  17. Activist Hamza Al-Masry,  Telegram  .
  18. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report.
  19. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Report .
  20. Palestinian Media Center, News release.
  21. Activist Hamza al-Masri, Telegram.
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