Israeli army removes 500 patients from Al-Shifa Hospital to meet their fate on Gaza streets

By Abdul Salam Fayez

GAZA, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army forcibly evacuated about 500 patients from Al-Shifa Hospital in the west of Gaza city, including those who had been injured by its extensive onslaughts, and left them to meet their fate on the streets as they were in serious conditions and needed extensive medical care, the government’s media office in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday.

The Israeli army had given all those inside the Al-Shifa Medical Complex a one-hour deadline, forcing even patients in critical need of medical care to leave the health care facility.

The Gaza media office said in a statement: “More than 500 patients and wounded, exhausted by hunger, thirst, and pain, were forced by the Israeli army to leave the Al-Shifa medical complex, to meet their fate in the streets, while they are in dire need of extensive health and medical care, especially since the majority of them are in serious conditions.”

The statement held "the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the safety and lives of all those who were in the Al-Shifa, including the patients and wounded, premature babies, and medical staff."

The media office stressed that “international institutions and organizations also bear responsibility for negligence, and weak follow-up and coordination, within the framework of protecting hospitals and health centers, which are supposed to have international and legal immunity.”

The statement also stressed that fuel must be provided to all hospitals in the Gaza Strip, in order to "carry out their health, medical and humanitarian duties towards tens of thousands of wounded and sick people."

Earlier on Saturday, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex said hundreds of patients, medical staff, other employees, and displaced civilians were evacuated from the hospital after the Israeli army set a one-hour deadline.