7 November 2024
The Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital (PFBS) in Gaza City has delivered crucial healthcare services across departments such as emergency, obstetrics, gynaecology, and surgery for over four decades. Since the Israeli military began systematically dismantling Gaza’s health system in October 2023, PFBS has played a critical role in providing life-saving care to Palestinians, supported by MAP.
The hospital has sustained indirect damage from Israel’s military bombardment. Operating rooms, oxygen stations, electricity and essential supplies have been damaged repeatedly. Yet, PFBS and its staff have remained steadfast, restoring damaged departments to keep services available.
“The obstetrics and gynaecology department have been damaged, but the women’s clinic continues to operate. The outpatient clinic, however, was completely shut down, and the warehouse and pharmacy equipment were destroyed, causing the loss of many supplies,” said Dr Ahmad Eskiek, who oversees the hospital’s operations. “Earlier in the year, we managed to restore the hospital, but again, some parts were damaged due to nearby bombings. Nevertheless, we continued our efforts to rebuild, believing that our people deserve much more from us.”
“[Since] October 2023, when most hospitals in northern Gaza, especially paediatric hospitals like El-Dorra and Al-Rantisi, were rendered non-operational, PFBS had to step up to provide additional care,” said Dr Eskiek. “With Al-Ahli Arab Hospital shutting down at the start of the war, our hospital played a crucial role in performing most surgeries in Gaza. The women’s clinic alone was seeing over 300 patients daily, and surgeries were being conducted 24/7.”
Since August 2024, MAP has not only provided essential staffing and resources but has also helped to restore damaged facilities and create new ones. Among these efforts, MAP helped establish a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in September, which now provides life-saving care for premature infants.
This is PFBS’s first-ever PICU, offering specialised care for newborns in Gaza, particularly those from North Gaza, who have few alternatives for survival amid Israel’s intensified military attacks and tightened siege there. The UN has warned that: “The entire population of North Gaza is now at risk of dying.”
As a result of recent forced displacement orders issued by Israeli forces in October and repeated attacks, Kamal Adwan Hospital, which hosts the only neonatal ICU (NICU) in North Gaza Governate, has been forced out of service. To cover the gap in healthcare services, MAP has taken prompt action to support PFBS to establish a NICU, and to provide the necessary support to serve the crowded population in Gaza City, where many of those forcibly displaced from North Gaza have sought refuge.
MAP’s contributions have included alternative energy support to compensate for the hospital’s damaged solar systems, ensuring that PFBS can continue operations despite power shortages. We have also supported PFBS’s laboratory with equipment and vital supplies, and established a malnutrition unit in collaboration with MedGlobal, serving the needs of children aged six to 59 months in Gaza.
“In the past three months, the hospital has received over 1,700 children per month, and the number of children suffering from malnutrition has sharply risen. For example, in July, we received 1,100 cases, while in September, the number surpassed 4,780,” said Dr Eskiek.
PFBS has seen the number of arriving patients rise significantly, from 7,320 in July to 42,999 in October, underscoring the vital role of MAP’s work to support them in providing accessible, quality healthcare during continued atrocities committed by Israeli forces in northern Gaza. Dr Eskiek speaks of the hope MAP has brought to the hospital: “With MAP’s support, we continue rebuilding and expanding care. Our people deserve nothing less.”
Despite losing ambulances and resources to Israel’s military airstrikes, and with limited food for staff, PFBS’s medical team continues serving tirelessly. Dr Said Salah, the nearly 70-year-old Medical Director, walks from Jabalia to the hospital in Gaza City every day to treat patients.
The team at PFBS are doing everything they can to ensure that life-saving healthcare remains available for Palestinians, but healthcare remains at risk. As Dr Eskiek highlights, “We are in dire need of support, especially medical supplies and consumables, as the local market lacks these materials. We need support and assistance to ensure the continued delivery of services to our people under these difficult conditions.”
Donate now to continue supporting hospitals in Gaza.
