TEL AVIV, Jan. 5, 2009
Gaza Hospital In Crisis
CBS Evening News: Tending To Hundreds Of Civilians, Hospital Says Without Supplies It Cannot Save Lives
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Play CBS Video Video Gaza Hospitals Overwhelmed Gaza's hospitals have been overwhelmed by the Israel attack, meaning people are dying who could have been saved. Richard Roth reports.
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The beds are all busy at Al-Shifa Hospital; the courtyard's a crowded waiting room; the morgue is full. (CBS)
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Smoke and explosions are seen rising during an Israeli army operation in the northern Gaza. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
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Stories:
In-Depth:
Video:
- U.S. "Persistent" in Mideast Peace Push
- Clinton: Israel "Needs to do Much More"
- Palestinians: Clinton Hinders Peace Talks
- Palestinian Memo: Obama Hopes "Evaporated"
- Group: Israel Hogging West Bank Water
- Israeli Children Get Fortified Playground
- Clinton: Israeli Actions "Unhelpful"
In-Depth:
Video:
At the biggest hospital in Gaza, the emergency is overwhelming is the E.R.
There aren't enough ambulances to carry the casualties, who arrive in cars - and taxis, too. The beds are all busy at Al-Shifa Hospital; the courtyard's a crowded waiting room; the morgue is full, Roth reports.
The hospital's general manager, Hassan Khalaf, insists the majority of patients by far are civilians. CBS News reached him by cell phone.
"The latest figure is, the total killed people is 543 at the moment, and well, about 30 percent of them are woman and children," he said. "As regards injured there are 2,600 and 42 percent of them are women and children."
Eleven-year-old Lama Aliewa was brought in this afternoon. Her home was hit by an Israeli bomb. Her mother and four siblings were killed.
Her doctor is Norwegian. Mads Gilbert came to Gaza last week to help out, he says, in a hospital that's short of everything but misery.
"They have no spare parts, they have no monitors. They have not enough blood pressure machines, they don't have enough trolleys. They lack everything. And on top of this you have this huge disaster," he said.
The word "Shifa" means "healing." But Gilbert says Shifa Hospital is struggling to live up to its name.
"More people will die who could have been saved," he said. "We have to be even harder to select who we can treat and we have to put aside people who could otherwise die. That is the gruesome fact of the situation and we are not talking about the 17th century, we are talking about 2009."
One other note: A senior Israeli intelligence official says Shifa Hospital isn't just a refuge for the sick and wounded. He claims it's also being used as a hideout for some leaders of Hamas. Hospital officials vehemently deny that.World Watch Blog: Israel "Not Close" To Achieving Objectives, Analyst Says
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
The depravity of the Israelis is truly bizarre.
Posted by ToolMangler
Anyone that would comment on an article about the murderous rampage of the Zionist Israelis, with a mocking suggestion about the Muslims being a "religion of peace", must have *** in their head where their brain should be, and/or must be a Zionist.
Posted by rusure5 at 07:57 PM : Jan 05, 2009
Anyone stupid enough to think that I was being ''anything but facetious'' is truly stupid.
Posted by ToolMangler
Anyone stupid enough to think that any religion has anything to do with peace is clearly too misinformed to add anything of value to the discussion.
Posted by rusure5 at 07:17 PM : Jan 05, 2009
Yes, they should accept all incoming rockets with glee and thanksgiving, Everybody knows that Islam is a religion of ''peace''
Pretty hard for Palestinian doctors to keep up, when the Israelis are intentionally bombing civilians, ambulances, etc. and are maintaining their illegal blockade against the people of Gaza, denying even basic medical supplies.
The Israeli Zionists have truly become their own worst oppressors, enslaved by the Nazi trapped within their own heads, guiding their every action, and cheering on their crimes and atrocities.
What a contemptible bunch.