Geneva, February 23 (RHC)-- A UN staff member has told of the difficulties involved in a rescue mission to evacuate seriously ill patients and families from Nasser Hospital, which has been besieged and raided by Israeli forces in Gaza’s southern Khan Younis area.

Dr Sara al-Saqqa, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told how there is no water or electricity inside the hospital, medical supplies are limited and food is insufficient for those trapped in the besieged medical facility.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported that Israeli troops again raided the hospital, and continue to prohibit movement in and out of the compound.

Sewage water has flooded the ground floors of Nasser Hospital, and staff and patients are “without water to drink or personal hygiene, without food, without electricity, without oxygen and without medical equipment”, the Health Ministry said.