Hoping That Ceasefire Can Facilitate Proper Evacuation, Doctor in Gaza: It’s a Very Dire Situation

The ambulance at the gate of Al-Shifa Hospital was hit by an Israeli attack on Gaza. (Twitter/@MSF_USA)

JAKARTA - Hospital doctors in Gaza hope that the ceasefire which is planned to start Friday morning local time, will be able to facilitate proper evacuation, especially for patients.

One of the few medical staff still at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza Ahmed Mokhallalati told CNN the massive airstrikes created greater challenges for the evacuation of staff and patients.

Mokhallalati said there were still hundreds of people in the hospital, describing the situation at the hospital as "very dire here."

"This is a very dire situation. Currently, we have around 200 patients, maybe 250 family members or relatives of the patients, and only a few staff," he said, reported by CNN, November 24.

Mokhallalati, head of plastic surgery and burns at Al-Shifa, said he was one of only two doctors at the hospital, which has seen extensive Israeli military presence for more than a week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have reported discovering an extensive network of tunnels used by Hamas at the hospital. The director of the hospital was detained by the IDF while he was evacuating with a humanitarian convoy on Wednesday, for questioning regarding the militant group's activities.

Mokhallalati said the final evacuation should take place on Wednesday for the remaining patients.

"Unfortunately, Israel allowed WHO and the UN to only get 14 ambulances and two buses, each with a capacity of 20 passengers," he said.

Mokhallalati said the IDF had repeatedly asked for the hospital to be evacuated. However, he insisted that this would not be possible without an ambulance, as many patients had severe back injuries, including spinal fractures.

"These patients, at least 57 of them, had to be put on stretchers," he explained.

He further said that twenty patients in wheelchairs had decided to leave the hospital on Thursday, along with around 50 family members. Meanwhile, 50 other people who were staying at the hospital have also left.

Mokhallalati also said that for about 10 days the hospital had no electricity, water, drinking water or fresh food. Those still there survive on canned food.

He said the ceasefire that will begin on Friday at 7 a.m. local time was "the only hope to evacuate patients in the right way."

"We should be clear and say (Al-Shifa) is no longer a place to help patients. So we should just leave it," he regretted.

"I hope that tomorrow morning (today) we will be able to leave Al-Shifa and evacuate the patients," he said.