Gaza medical teams evacuate Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after Israeli army’s warning

By Mohammed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Medical teams in Gaza evacuated wounded Palestinians from Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on Sunday after the Israeli military issued a warning to leave the Al-Daraj, Al-Tuffah and Old City neighborhoods of Gaza City.

A medical source at the hospital who spoke to Anadolu said the teams transferred the wounded and other patients from the hospital to medical facilities in northern Gaza.

The source said Israeli quadcopter drones were heavily present around the hospital, firing at civilians and prompting the medical teams to evacuate the hospital.

Earlier in the day, Israeli aircraft and artillery targeted areas of Gaza City, injuring dozens of people and displacing thousands of families, coinciding with the Israeli army’s call for residents to evacuate their homes in those areas.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that dozens of injured people were transported from streets and homes due to the Israeli targeting of the Al-Daraj, Al-Tuffah and Old City neighborhoods.

They said the targeting was carried out by quadcopter drones and artillery, forcing thousands of families to flee to western areas of Gaza City.

The army’s warning did not mention further details but indicated ongoing military operations in the nearby Shejaiya neighborhood.

On June 28, the Israeli army announced the start of a ground offensive in Shejaiya, the third of its kind since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7 last year.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,150 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala