179 Patients Buried In Mass Grave After Fuel Supplies Ran Out, Says Gaza Hospital Director: Reports

Gaza hospital director says they buried 179 patients, including babies in a "mass grave" after fuel supplies ran out.

The director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital has said that they have buried 179 people, including babies and patients who died in the intensive care unit, “in a mass grave” in the complex, reports Al Jazeera. The director of Gaza's largest hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya reportedly said that these patients died after fuel supplies ran out.

"We were forced to bury them in a mass grave," Salmiya said adding that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients are among those buried, who died after fuel supplies ran out, reported TRT World Now.

He said, "There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues," reported Barron's. Notably, no fuel has entered the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7. A man and a woman died in the ICU bringing the number of people who had died in the unit to 29, Salmiyah said, as quoted by the report.

The hospital has been battling hard to keep the patients alive after it was cut off from the world for over 72 hours last week following a deadly blockade by Israeli forces that included tanks at the front gates, reported Reuters. Israel has insisted that the hospital stands atop a network of tunnels that form part of the Hamas' underground headquarters.

According to a CNN report, Palestinian officials said that the situation inside Gaza’s two largest hospitals is worsening amid a constant attack by Israeli forces in the enclave. Al-Shifa Hospital and Al-Quds Hospital are no longer functioning because of the lack of fuel and electricity, they added.

Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital have refused a mandatory evacuation order from the Israeli military, stating that about 700 patients will die if left behind, the director-general of the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said, reported CNN.