RAMALLAH, August 10, 2026 (WAFA) — Under the patronage of Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) today inaugurated the North Field Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip during a ceremony held at the Society's headquarters in Al-Bireh and in Gaza via videoconference.
The ceremony was attended by PRCS President Younis Al-Khatib, Minister of Health Majed Abu Ramadan, a number of international partners, and Red Crescent teams in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Prime Minister also inspected the Society's warehouses and central operations center at its Al-Bireh headquarters, where he reviewed stocks of medicines and medical and relief supplies and preparations for their dispatch to the Gaza Strip. The warehouses contain more than 5,000 pallets of medicines and medical supplies ready for shipment to Gaza, in addition to thousands more prepared at suppliers' warehouses. Some 35 ambulances are also ready on the Egyptian side, along with around 22 ambulances in the West Bank, to enter the Gaza Strip as soon as permission is granted.
Mustafa said the opening of the hospital embodies the Palestinian people's determination to persevere and continue living despite the humanitarian catastrophe, the destruction of a large part of Gaza's health sector, and shortages of medicines, equipment and medical personnel.
"This occasion brings together pain and hope: pain over what our people in the Gaza Strip have endured, and hope that efforts will continue to change this reality toward a better situation and a more dignified life," Mustafa said.
He added that the hospital represents a national response to growing healthcare needs and a message of the Palestinian people's determination to continue living. He affirmed that the government, under the directives of President Mahmoud Abbas, will continue to support the Society and its partners in strengthening Gaza's health sector.
The Prime Minister commended the efforts of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, its teams and partners, stressing that treating patients and the wounded is a humanitarian duty guaranteed under international law. He called on the international community to assume its responsibilities toward the Palestinian people in Gaza.
For his part, Al-Khatib said the opening of the hospital represents a national achievement made possible through the efforts of the Society's staff and partners. He noted that the Society has lost more than 230 staff members who were killed in the course of its mission, while its teams have continued to carry out their humanitarian duties.
He explained that the hospital is part of the Society's plan to strengthen healthcare services across the Gaza Strip amid an acute shortage of medical facilities. Despite restrictions on the entry of equipment, Society teams were able to develop field-based solutions and equip the hospital using local capabilities and expertise, with support from partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Haider Al-Qudra, executive director of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip, said the opening of the North Field Hospital is part of the Society's strategic plan to establish field hospitals in different areas of Gaza to support the health sector and strengthen its capacity to provide medical services.
The North Field Hospital is the Society's sixth hospital in the Gaza Strip and is expected to serve around half a million people. It will provide emergency, surgical, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatric and neonatal care services, in addition to operating rooms, radiology, laboratory and pharmacy services. It also includes a primary healthcare clinic and the North Central Ambulance Center.
K.T
