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Airstrikes on the citys hospitals have led to the death of at least two patients and forced the evacuation of medical staff and patients

Doctors reported that health services stopped functioning in the Syrian city of Idlib after a series of airstrikes targeted major hospitals causing damage to intensive care units and specialized services The White Helmets rescue organization said that at least two patients in intensive care died due to power and oxygen shortages caused by the airstrikes Hospitals were forced to evacuate patients or transfer them The health facilities hit in recent days included Ibn Sina Childrens Hospital and the Maternity and Childrens Hospital run by the Syrian American Medical Society The White Helmets said that Idlib University Hospital the National Hospital and the Health Directorate were also hit

Dr Mohammad Firas Al Hamdo a pediatrician at the maternity and childrens hospital said he could neither see nor hear after a massive explosion shattered the hospital windows

Al Hamdo said I struggled through emergency exits to the ground floor I was terrified Staff and patients gathered in the lower floors of the hospital and we all suffered from impaired vision

He added that the airstrike targeting the maternity hospital caused a power outage and disabled hospital equipment

He said This led to the death of two people in the intensive care unit due to power cuts and lack of oxygen

SAMS said one of its hospitals in Idlib was also hit by an airstrike on Monday causing structural damage but no injuries as staff had been working in lower floors since the escalation of violence last week

The organization added that it had to suspend all services except emergency care in the nine facilities it manages and evacuated volunteer paramedics from the US

Dr Mufaddal Hamadeh head of SAMS said Hospitals schools and civilians are not targets of war We must all defend basic human values and prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable regardless of their affiliation

Dr Sidra Daboul an anesthesiologist at Al Shifa Hospital specializing in cardiology said staff were also forced to evacuate after a nearby explosion shattered the windows

She said Today we completely stopped working There are only emergency ambulance services to treat and evacuate victims of airstrikes from the city

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 Physicians for Human Rights has documented at least 604 attacks on healthcare facilities resulting in the deaths of at least 949 workers All but 60 of these attacks were linked to the Syrian regime or its allied forces

The White Helmets said airstrikes were carried out across Idlib on Monday killing at least 18 people