Doctors Without Borders was forced to evacuate its employees and their families from the Al-Aqsa Hospital area around the hospital where the organization works, after days of fighting in the central area of the Gaza Strip and due to an evacuation order from the Israeli Defense Forces late this morning . Doctors Without Borders announced this in a statement. “With a heavy burden on our hearts, we are forced to evacuate the hospital while patients, hospital staff and many people seeking a safe place remain on the hospital premises,” said Carolina Lopez, MSF emergency coordinator at the hospital.
Yesterday, a bullet heavily penetrated the wall of the intensive care unit at Al-Aqsa Hospital. In the last two days, there have been drone attacks and sniper fire within a few hundred meters of the hospital, the statement said.
“The situation has become so dangerous that some employees living in the area have been unable to leave their homes due to the ongoing threat from drones and snipers,” Lopez explained, emphasizing that “the resulting reduction in staffing at the hospital has had an impact on patient care.”
“We reiterate that Israel has an obligation under international humanitarian law to protect the patients and staff still working in the only functioning hospital in central Gaza,” Lopez added.
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