Gaza City medics overwhelmed as Israeli offensive presses toward al-Shifa hospital

Medical staff at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City say they are overwhelmed by incoming casualties from Israeli strikes as a ground offensive presses toward the facility, one of Gaza’s last major medical complexes.

Inside the ruined wards, beds lack mattresses, supplies are scarce, and medics say they are performing operations with little or no anesthesia. An emergency specialist from Australia volunteering at the hospital described the scene as a “mass murder, a killing, a torture, a nightmare,” noting that many procedures are carried out under dire conditions with scant pain relief and limited surgical instruments. She recalled emergency Caesareans in which a baby survived after the mother had been fatally injured, while staff faced wounds, exposed flesh, and organs in view during operations.

Outside al-Shifa, Israeli tanks have moved closer to the city center, witnesses said, with video footage showing a tank at Hamid junction in the Rimal neighborhood less than 500 meters from the hospital and troops to the south about 700 meters away. Residents and journalists described a continuous pattern of air and artillery strikes, drone activity, and vehicles packed with explosives contributing to mass displacements of Palestinians each day. A Palestinian journalist living in southern Gaza said his family narrowly escaped an Israeli incursion after tanks surrounded their neighborhood for a harrowing night. "They lived through the hardest night of their lives before escaping through a back door. It's unbelievable how quickly the tanks reached the heart of the city," he said.

Before the current escalation, around one million Palestinians were living in Gaza City. The United Nations has estimated that more than 320,000 have fled south since the onset of the offensive last month, though Israel’s military says the figure is higher, about 640,000. The military has urged residents to move to a designated “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, promising access to care, water, and food. But witnesses described severe congestion on the coastal al-Rashid road, with families enduring long, arduous journeys out of the city. The cost of evacuation has also risen dramatically, with reports stating that some families are paying more than $3,000 for escape—an amount beyond the reach of many.

The humanitarian strain extends well beyond al-Shifa. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at al-Quds hospital in Tal al-Hawa ceased operating after being struck by gunfire, leaving only pre-filled oxygen cylinders with enough supply for about three days. Israeli military vehicles were reported to be positioned at the southern gate of the hospital, blocking entry or exit. In the north, Hamas-run health authorities said al-Rantisi children’s hospital and the nearby St. John Eye Hospital in Nasr had to evacuate patients or shut down due to the ongoing bombardment and the danger posed by the advancing ground campaign.

Regional partners have also slowed their operations in response to shelling and explosions nearby. Jordan’s armed forces moved to relocate a field hospital in Tal al-Hawa after assessing that shelling and heavy explosions nearby could compromise care and equipment. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society’s primary health center in Gaza City was destroyed in an air strike, interrupting services that included blood supplies, trauma care, cancer medications, and chronic disease treatment. The World Health Organization confirmed the destruction of the center and its impact on local care.

The latest developments come amid a broader context: Israel launched a large-scale campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and hostage-took hundreds more. Since then, the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, has reported at least tens of thousands of fatalities in Gaza, a figure the Israeli military disputes, while both sides describe devastating levels of harm to civilians and critical infrastructure.

As the fighting intensifies, medics in Gaza City say they are steering triage decisions under impossible conditions. An Australian anaesthetist at al-Shifa said a six-year-old boy with a fractured arm and leg waited three days for surgery because the only orthopedic surgeon on site had to prioritize more severe injuries. She described scenes of operating rooms swarmed with flies, blood on beds, and a chronic shortage of equipment and replacement parts. “Every couple of hours there are multiple amputation cases with massive resuscitation. It’s life or limb, literally,” she told the BBC, adding that anesthesia was scarce and pain relief nearly nonexistent.

In the broader city, residents fear the coming days as the ground assault tightens its grip around al-Shifa. Witnesses reported tanks moving into the city center from multiple directions, the sounds of bombardment reverberating through neighborhoods, and the constant threat of further strikes on medical facilities that are already stretched beyond capacity. The UN and aid groups have warned that civilian displacement and the collapse of health services could escalate humanitarian needs in the days ahead.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza City remains precarious as aid deliveries are interrupted and residents confront the realities of a sprawling urban battlefront. With the hospital network and medical supply chains under extreme pressure, doctors say they are fighting not only injuries from blasts but the breakdown of the systems meant to treat and stabilize the wounded. As the conflict persists, international observers are calling for de-escalation and unimpeded access to essential services for civilians caught in the fighting.