Reluctant To Leave Patients, Doctor At Al-Shifa Gaza Hospital Rejects Israel Evacuation Order

Victims of children as a result of Israeli attacks at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza. (Wikimedia/Commons Wafa in contact with a local company (APAimages))

JAKARTA - Doctors at Al-Shifa hospital located in northern Gaza, rejected a mandatory evacuation order from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), fearing around 700 patients at risk of dying if left unchecked, according to the Director General of the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas in Gaza Dr. Munir Al-Brush.

"The problem is not the doctor, but the patient. And if they are left behind, they will die. If they are transferred, they will die on the way, this is the problem, we are talking about 700 patients," Dr. Al-Bursh told CNN Monday, as reported November 14.

"Until now there has been no response from the doctors, but some refugees and their families have left their homes," he said.

It is known that several thousand people have taken refuge in hospital complexes, according to doctors at the health facility.

The evacuation order, according to Dr. Al-Bursh, is not coordinated with any international humanitarian agencies, such as the International Red Cross.

Lack of coordination raises concerns about the safety and feasibility of large number of patient transfers, many of whom are in critical condition and will die on the way, he said.

As previously reported, Gaza's largest and second largest hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds said they had stopped operations due to a shortage of fuel supplies and medicines.

WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the conditions a tragic thing, where it prevented patients from getting proper treatment, while new patients were unacceptable due to limited space, fuel and medical supplies.

Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza, said that of the 45 babies in the incubator at Al-Shifa Hospital, three of them had died.

Meanwhile, a plastic surgeon at Al-Shifa Hospital said the bombing of the incubator building had forced them to line up premature babies in ordinary beds, using the little power available to warm AC.