Most of the medical staff and patients at al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, left following an Israeli military ultimatum, which the Army denies having given.
At least five doctors remained at the hospital to supervise the coordination of the departure of around 120 wounded people who remained in its facilities, as well as 30 premature babies, according to a statement from the general directorate of the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The testimonies cited by the Ministry of Health reflect moments of chaos and anguish inside the medical complex before the evacuation, such as the fact that “many children and adults could not continue walking” along the route planned by the troops to the street. Al Wahda, in the direction of Salah al Din road.
This road is the route established by Israel for Palestinians from northern Gaza to move south.
The director of the Ministry of Health, Munir al-Barsh, was one of those who left the center and, according to his testimony, the entire area around the hospital is “completely destroyed.”
“We listened to the wounded and we couldn’t help them, there were people dying,” al-Barsh was quoted as saying by the ministry, before warning that many sick people could die on the way to retreat, which they are forced to do. on foot, he said.
The official also said that the 30 premature babies who were being treated precariously at the hospital, which has been virtually out of service for days due to a power outage and lack of fuel due to the Israeli siege, remained at the hospital.
According to the official, efforts were coordinated with the Red Cross so that the organization can care for the babies.
However, he regretted the death of six premature babies due to the precarious situation, as well as the death of six patients on dialysis and another 22 people in the Intensive Care Unit.
The center’s emergency supervisor, Omar Zaqut, who was also evacuated, insisted that the army had taken them out of the hospital “at gunpoint” and urged them to carry a white flag or white scarves.
The Ministry of Health, controlled by the political wing of the Islamic group Hamas, also showed images supposedly before the evacuation of the emergency zone, showing total chaos with patients lying on the ground and dozens of people milling around.
The Israeli Army denied this Saturday that it had given a one-hour deadline to the doctors, patients and displaced people who remained in the Palestinian Al Shifa hospital.
According to the IDF, the army accepted “the request of the director of Al Shifa hospital to allow other Gazans who were in the hospital and wished to leave to do so via a safe route.”
Previously, the Gaza Ministry of Health had reported that “the occupation army offers doctors, patients and displaced persons the possibility of leaving the Shifa hospital in Gaza within one hour.”
The Israeli military claims that al-Shifa hides a Hamas command center and is therefore a military target, where it also suspects Hamas hid the hostages it kidnapped in Israel on October 7.
On October 7, the Islamist movement Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the EU and the United States, bombed several of the group’s infrastructure in Gaza and imposed a total siege on the territory, cutting off water. . supplies, fuel and electricity.
Israeli bombings from air, land and sea caused more than 12,000 deaths, mostly civilians, in the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas data.
Source: TSF
