WHO says 270 patients reportedly self-evacuated from European Hospital in Khan Yunis

As Israel issues new evacuation orders for parts of Khan Yunis, patients and doctors at the European Gaza Hospital have been forced to leave, putting lives at great risk. Palestinian doctors are calling for global action to save the lives of patients, saying they will stay at the hospital to care for the patients who can't be evacuated. The European Gaza Hospital is one of the last functioning medical facilities in the enclave.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said 270 patients reportedly self-evacuated from Gaza’s European Hospital in Khan Yunis following Israel’s evacuation orders, Anadolu Agency reports.

Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told a UN press briefing in Geneva that the latest evacuation orders have an impact on operations at the European Gaza Hospital, even though the hospital itself is not under evacuation orders.

“But as witnessed several times during the ongoing war, insecurity in a hospital’s proximity and lack of access for patients, health workers and humanitarians to resupply fuel, medical supplies, water and food can make hospitals non-functional very quickly,” Peeperkorn warned.

Noting that 270 patients, besides medical staff, self-evacuated on Monday, he said the evacuations from the hospital resumed Tuesday morning with the assistance of the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Now, “only there are patients” remaining at the European Gaza Hospital, and “three” at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital, he said.

READ: UNRWA says around 250,000 people impacted by recent Khan Yunis evacuation orders in Gaza

He noted that most patients have been referred to Nasser Medical Complex.

The WHO representative added that the Ministry of Health had requested assistance in transferring valuable medical equipment and supplies out of the hospital.

“WHO will be supporting this mission,” Peeperkorn vowed.

The Israeli army, on Monday, ordered residents of eastern Khan Yunis to immediately leave, claiming the area has become a “dangerous combat zone”.

The army asked the people to head to “humanitarian zones” in the western part of the city, known as the Al-Mawasi area.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,141 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: Israel’s Netanyahu orders investigation into release of Al-Shifa Hospital Director

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