The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has accused Israeli forces of obstructing the medical evacuation of patients from hospitals in Gaza, and preventing them from reaching other medical facilities in the Rafah area bordering Egypt for several hours last Sunday (25/2).
OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said on Tuesday (27/2) that the medical convoy transported 24 patients, including one pregnant woman and one mother and her newborn baby, from Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.
“The Israeli military forced patients and staff out of ambulances and stripped all paramedics of their clothes. Three paramedics were then detained, despite their personal details having been given to Israeli forces beforehand, while the rest of the convoy remained there for more than seven hours. “One paramedic has been released, and we ask that the other two people and all other detained health workers be immediately released,” said Laerke.
The Israeli military has not commented on the incident, saying only that it is investigating the details alleged by OCHA.
World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Christian Lindmeier said some people in the convoy were unable to walk, “but all were forced out of the ambulances.”
“You can imagine being in a medical convoy in a life-threatening condition, and not being able to move or being able to move and being forced to wait outside (an ambulance) for seven hours, those are truly unimaginable conditions,” he said.
Al Amal Hospital has been the center of military operations in Khan Younis for more than a month. WHO reported that as many as 40 attacks occurred on the hospital from January 22 to February 22, in which attacks killed 25 people and rendered the hospital dysfunctional.
Currently, there are 215 people still in hospital, including 31 patients, medical officers, paramedics, ambulance drivers, eight doctors and 10 nurses.
“A total of 24 patients have been evacuated from Al Amal to a hospital in Rafah where they can receive treatment,” Laerke said. “And some of them, if not all, need to undergo surgery, which cannot be done at Al Amal Hospital.”
Lindmeier noted Sunday's incident was not the first such incident. He said as many as eight convoys were also prevented from transporting patients who needed further treatment.
“Humanitarian workers have been harassed, intimidated or detained by Israeli forces, and humanitarian facilities have been attacked,” he said. (lt/hm/rs)