GENEVA: Almost all the patients in the European Gaza Hospital and the Red Cross field hospital chose to abandon buildings on Israeli orders for withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Gaza, said WHO on Wednesday.
270 patients including medical staff reportedly self-evacuated on Monday, while on Tuesday; more patients were evacuated by the ministry of health in Gaza according to World Health Organization.
“On Tuesday, only three patients remained in European Gaza Hospital and three ICRC field hospital. Most have been transferred to Nasser Medical Complex,” it said referring to figures from that day.
The evacuation order given was aimed at vacating most parts of Khan Yunis and Rafah eastwards along Egyptian boundary by Israeli army. This military operation was not expressly announced but normally these kind of orders precede major offensives.
The current evacuation guidelines are however affecting operations within the European Gaza Hospital itself.
“As witnessed several times during the ongoing war, insecurity in a hospital’s proximity and lack of access for patients, health workers, and humanitarians to resupply fuel, medical supplies, water and food can make hospitals non-functional very quickly,” it said.
UN health agency also promised to assist efforts towards transferring important equipment for medicine and other supplies out of the facility.
“European Gaza Hospital was one of the few remaining key referral hospitals south of Wadi Gaza. Where majority population is”, Rik Peeperkorn told reporters via video-link from Geneva on Tuesday (WHO representative in Palestinian territory).
“This time today because they’ve seen what has earlier happened. Whenever an evacuation order has been passed through a hospital like this they decided themselves being patient or as medics. Let us be proactive rather than just reactive,” he commented.
16 out 36 hospitals are still partly functional. Whereas four fully functioning field hospitals exist among ten with another four partially functioning ones.”
In addition 43 primary health care centres out 99 remained functional somewhat at some level
Rik Peeperkorn hopes that during any Israeli military assault, there will be no harm done to European Gaza Hospital in the region.
While admitting that “most staff” are gone. He said some medical employees have decided to remain with the three patients still present in the facility.
As per AFP based on figures from Israel, Hamas’s attack against southern Israel on October 7th. Which prompted this conflict had resulted in 1,195 deaths of whom most were civilians.
The above-mentioned were revealed by health ministry of Hamas-run territory through. Which more than 37,900 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory offensive whose majority are civilians.
