The emergency department at the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, devastated by Israeli bombardments, is “a blood bath” and is “in need of resuscitation”, the WHO said.

A team from the World Health Organisation and other United Nations agencies was able to deliver medical supplies to the hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory, AFP reports.

In a statement, the WHO said that “tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter”, and that there is “a severe shortage” of drinking water and food.

“The team described the emergency department as a ‘bloodbath’, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute,” the organisation said, adding that “patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor… (and) no pain management is available”.

The hospital is functioning at a minimal scale with very few staff and the WH said “critical patients are being transferred to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for surgeries”.

Operating theatres are not working due to a lack of oxygen and supplies, and according to the WHO team, it is a “hospital in need of resuscitation”. Only 30 patients can receive dialysis daily.