Forced evacuation of Gaza 'impossible': Deputy health minister

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Israel's forced evacuation of northern Gaza is "impossible" for reasons of health and safety, the strip’s deputy health minister said on Sunday, saying "no one can evacuate" Shifa and other hospitals in the north, despite the Israeli order.

Yousef Abu-Al-Rish's remarks came in a voice message shared on X by the World Health Organization’s office in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"No one can imagine what is going on on the ground. It’s very horrible," Abu al-Rish said, and added: "The evacuation of Shifa (hospital), it’s something impossible. Actually, all the other hospitals."

He stressed "no one can evacuate" Shifa Hospital because there are no extra beds in the hospitals in the south and most of the current cases are unstable and so cannot be transported.

"And if we want to even transfer them, if there are extra beds in the other hospitals, which is not true, they will die because they are unstable to be transported," he said.

"They want to evacuate all of the northern hospitals. So, all of the northern hospitals and the hemodialysis and others will be shifted to the south. Actually, how, how come?" he asked. "Even if there is a decision for evacuation, it’s not applicable at all."

The Israeli order to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip has been widely condemned, with UN officials and others warning it could lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Last weekend, in a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained military push against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the southern strip.