179 buried in mass grave in Al-Shifa Hospital: Director

GAZA: The Director of Gaza’s largest hospital -- Al Shifa Hospital -- on Tuesday said that at least 179 people have been buried in a mass grave inside the hospital premises, media reports said.

“We were forced to bury them in a mass grave,” said the Director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, adding that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients are among those buried, Al Jazeera reported.

Orthopedic surgeon Fadel Naim, based in the Gaza, said that the patients with injuries “up to the moderate level” have to undergo surgery without anesthesia because of a lack of medical supplies.

“It’s to preserve the remaining supply of anesthesia, which is on the verge of depletion at any moment, for major and critical surgeries,” he wrote on X.

Al Jazeera reported that the pain experienced by the patients during the surgical interventions without anesthesia is beyond what humanity can endure.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on the Gaza since October 7 -- equivalent to two nuclear bombs.

Satellite imagery and photographs show entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, with many hospitals, schools, places of worship and homes damaged or destroyed by Israeli land, sea and air attacks.

Entire communication systems and water treatment plants have also been disabled, Al Jazeera reported.