Tue 17 October 2023:
The WHO has demanded the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare workers in the Gaza Strip after the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
“The hospital was operational, with patients, health- and care-givers, and internally-displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military, the WHO added.
“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.
“WHO calls for the immediate active protection of civilians and health care. Evacuation orders must be reversed. International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted.”
‘Lost for words’: UN expresses shock after deadly school attack
Tamara al-Rifai, from the UN Relief and Works Agency, says there was “direct Israeli fire” on the facility and another refugee centre in the area.
“An attack on densely populated refugee camps where people are sheltering in UN schools and premises is something that is utterly shocking. It is a very sad violation of international humanitarian law. I am lost for words right now,” al-Rifai told Al Jazeera.
“We clearly identify all of our buildings and we share the coordinates, the GPS, with all of the [war] parties. That camp hosted 4,000 displaced people.”
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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