The WHO described scenes at the hospitals as "unbearable," with largely abandoned patients pleading for food and water.

Out of the 36 health facilities in Gaza, only nine are partially operational, and these are concentrated in the southern part of the enclave.

Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Gaza, painted a grim picture of the situation during a video link from Jerusalem. "There are actually no functional hospitals left in the north," he said. Al-Ahli Hospital, which was the last operational facility, is now minimally operational, attending to existing patients while refusing new admissions.

Peeperkorn depicted it as a mere "shell of a hospital," akin to a hospice, providing extremely limited care with scant resources. Only about 10 staff, all junior doctors and nurses, continue to provide basic first aid, pain management and wound care with scant resources, he said.

"Until two days ago, it was the only hospital where injured people could get surgery in northern Gaza and that was overwhelmed with patients needing emergency care," Peeperkorn said. "There are no operating theaters anymore due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers, including surgeons and other specialists."

Al-Ahli Hospital, once a lifeline for surgeries in northern Gaza, is now overwhelmed. Its courtyard serves as a somber scene, lined with the bodies of victims from recent Israeli attacks, awaiting dignified burials.

In addition to Al-Ahli Hospital, only three other health facilities in northern Gaza – Al-Shifa, Al Awda and Al Sahaba hospitals – are minimally functional, offering shelter to thousands of displaced people.