08/26/2024August 26, 2024
Gazans flee Al-Aqsa hospital after Israel issues new evacuation orders
Thousands of residents in the city of Deir al-Balah in central have been leaving their homes following new evacuation orders from Israel.
The orders also prompted patients to flee Deir al-Balah’s Al-Aqsa hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the .
In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military advised people in certain zones to move immediately to the west so that its forces could target operating in the area, which it called a “dangerous combat zone.”
The Al-Aqsa hospital was excluded from the latest orders, and Israel said it had informed Palestinian health officials that health facilities did not need to be evacuated. But patients and people sheltering there have been streaming out of the complex over fears the site could be engulfed in .
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said an explosion around 250 meters (820 feet) from the hospital on Sunday caused panic.
“As a result, MSF is considering whether to suspend wound care for the time being, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment,” it said on X.
The hospital says it was treating over 600 patients before the evacuation orders. Around 100 remain, including seven patients in intensive care and eight in the children’s ward.
“This situation is unacceptable. Al-Aqsa has been operating well beyond capacity for weeks due to the lack of alternatives for patients. All warring parties must respect the hospital, as well as patients’ access to medical care,” MSF said.
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