EU “deeply concerned” over Israeli evacuation orders in Khan Younis

The European Union has expressed deep concern over the Israeli occupation forces’ orders to evacuate hundreds of thousands of civilians from the eastern area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, Wafa News Agency reported.

Some 250,000 people are impacted by the evacuation orders. These orders also threaten the patients of the Gaza European Hospital, one of the few remaining partially functioning hospitals in southern Gaza, to evacuate.

Injured and sick patients from the Gaza European Hospital, including pregnant women and elderly people, were forced to relocate to other facilities, such as the Nasser Hospital. Staff also tried to save medical equipment.

“This evacuation decision is certain to worsen overcrowding, and cause severe shortages in the already overwhelmed remaining hospitals, at a time when access to emergency medical care is critical,” High Representative Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said in a joint statement.

Forced evacuations are exacerbating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, with nearly 1.9 million people displaced within the thickly populated Palestinian enclave.

The top European Union officials repeated calls for an immediate ceasefire, which would make possible a surge of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.