Hundreds of people have disappeared from Al-Aqsa Hospital in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli military shelling.

Hundreds of patients and staff have been reported missing from Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza. The hospital is struggling to cope with the massive airstrikes in an isolated area. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) announced on the 6th that most of the medical staff, including about 600 patients, had to leave the compound without information about their whereabouts.

Both facilities saw chaotic conditions as the hospital's remaining staff continued to deal with the influx of wounded as "heavy Israeli air, land, and sea bombardment intensified across most of the Gaza Strip." Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) visited the only functioning hospital in the Deir el Bala region of the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. They pointed out that the heavy shelling forced many people to seek medical care from Al Aqsa. The Gaza Strip Health Ministry reported that 225 Palestinians were killed and 296 wounded in Israeli attacks on January 5 and 7.

Officials have called for more protection at medical centers, saying too many injured people are being treated in understaffed facilities. The hospital director reported that as hostilities escalated and evacuation orders continued, local medical staff and approximately 600 patients were forced to leave the facility to an unknown location.

World Health Organization spokesman Sean Casey said new patients were arriving at the hospital every few minutes, adding that there were only five doctors available to handle hundreds of emergencies and casualties due to evacuation orders and dangerous conditions. "It's a confusing scene. "The director of the hospital just spoke to us and his only request was that we protect this hospital despite so many employees leaving," Casey said. “These hospitals now have about 30% of the staff they had a few days ago. In some cases, we see hundreds of victims a day in our small emergency rooms."

Medical Assistance to Palestine (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said emergency medical teams had to stop working at hospitals and leave facilities due to increased Israeli military activity. "The Look of Morid"

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said staff witnessed "horrific scenes" of people of all ages being treated on bloody floors and chaotic hallways.

"Al Aqsa is the main hospital left in central Gaza and must be functioning and properly protected to provide life-saving services," Secretary-General Ghebreyesus said. "Her function cannot be allowed to be further impaired. To do so in the face of such injury, trauma and humanitarian suffering would be a moral and medical disgrace."

Casey said his team delivered medical supplies and hospital beds Sunday to thousands of patients who needed dialysis and trauma care.

He said the WHO was considering sending emergency personnel to Al Aqsa, which, like many other health facilities in Gaza, is on its knees. Despite mounting international pressure for a delay, Israel continues its attacks on medical facilities and residential areas in Gaza.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said hospitals in northern Gaza had been destroyed. Ghebreyesus was shocked by the level of healthcare needs and destruction in northern Gaza after security concerns forced the WHO to cancel a visit to Al Awda Hospital in the area.

"The delivery of humanitarian assistance requires urgent, safe, and unimpeded access to the area. Any further delay will mean more death and suffering for too many people,” he said.

According to enclave authorities, at least 22,835 people, including 9,600 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7. Israel reported that 1,139 people were killed in Hamas attacks since October 7.