ANKARA: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday voiced deep concern on the situation in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli army continues its siege and shelling of the health facility.
“We are very worried about the situation unfolding at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis,” said MSF in a statement on X.
It called on the Israeli army “to ensure that all medical staff, patients and displaced people are unharmed.”
MSF added that the Israeli army ordered all displaced people inside the hospital to evacuate it, while only allowing medical staff and patients to stay “with a limit of one caretaker per patient.”
“People are afraid to leave the hospital because they hear reports of people being shot at. Those who wish to leave must be granted safe passage out,” MSF concluded.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said a number of Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army while trying to exit the Nasser hospital.
The Hamas group, for its part, also warned that the Isr
aeli army “intends to commit a crime” against those inside the hospital.
On Sunday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was deeply concerned about the situation in and around the Nasser hospital in the Gaza Strip, which has been surrounded by Israeli forces.
“We’re deeply concerned about the safety of patients and health personnel due to the intensifying hostilities in the vicinity of the hospital. We repeat: health MUST be protected at all times,” Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X, reiterating his call for a cease-fire.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has killed more than 28,000 people and injured over 68,000 others.
The Hamas attack, Tel Aviv says, left nearly 1,200 Israelis dead.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at
the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Source: Anadolu Agency