Palestinian Health Minister warns of humanitarian catastrophe due to Israeli targeting of Gaza hospital

On Thursday, The Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Alkaila warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe as the Israeli occupation forced citizens to evacuate the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, where they had been forcibly displaced.

At dawn today, a Palestinian civilian was killed, and a number of patients were injured after the Israeli forces bombed the hospital’s orthopedic department.

The occupation forces also stormed the complex’s courtyard and opened fire on its departments.

Alkaila said that such crime is added to the series of crimes committed by the occupation against  the Palestinian people in its ongoing aggression against Gaza Strip, stressing that Israel’s brutal bombing and fire did not leave any safe place in the Strip, which to date has led to killing of more than 28,600 citizens and injuring more than 69,600 citizens, while thousands remain under the rubble.

 She stressed, in an urgent appeal to the United Nations General Assembly and international human rights institutions, that what the Israeli occupation forces are doing in Nasser Medical Complex repeats the horrific crimes that occurred in the hospitals of Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa Medical Complex, when the occupation army forced the displaced to evacuate the hospital, and targeted them with fire and detained many of them during their exit.

The occupation forces are imposing a strict siege on the complex for the 25th day in a row, with snipers targeting those inside it or in its courtyards, which has led to the inability of medical teams to move between its buildings, in light of the presence of 300 health personnel, 450 sick and wounded, and 10,000 displaced people.

 Alkaila added that the displaced people took refuge in Nasser Medical Complex to escape the brutal aggression of the occupation, as there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip, and that international humanitarian law guarantees the right of every safe person in civil institutions protected under the Geneva Conventions.

 She pointed out that the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is horrific, as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression, the lack of food, water and medicine, the outbreak of diseases and the danger of death that haunts them everywhere they find safety.

Source: Wafa Agency

Souha Suleiman