Shifa 'House of healing' overflows with patients

At Gaza City's Dar al-Shifa hospital, the living sleep between beds filled with grounds, while the dead overflow patients, in corridors and even in the the morgue.

- Ruth Michaelson

The name Dar al-Shifa translates as "house of healing", and tens of thousands have sought not just healing but shelter from the bombardments that have rained down on Gaza City every hour, praying the hospital might provide some protection. Printed blankets have been hung from the entrance courtyard's iron handrails to provide shade, while some people have gathered around the stairwells with their children and all that remains of their belongings.

Shifa is not just Gaza's largest medical facility but the nerve centre of its entire healthcare system, and the Israeli assault on the territory has brought it to breaking point. Local authorities and aid groups in Gaza estimate between 35,000 and 40,000 people are sheltering there.

"The doctors have brought their families into the hospital for safety. I slept on an operating room table last night," said Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, one of the surgeons, speaking to the Guardian by phone.

"People are absolutely terrified, so they think this is the safest place.

Everything around them confirms that this is the safest place." He said the numbers who were seeking shelter presented a risk as thousands were seeking food and water where there was none.

"The crowding is going to lead to an infectious disease outbreak. There is an impending public health catastrophe at Shifa hospital," he said.