GENEVA – The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday expressed concern over an Israel warning to Al-Quds Hospital in northern Gaza Strip to evacuate patients and refuge seekers before attacking it.
“Worrying reports of evacuation orders sent to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza. Sick and injured patients, and health workers, are inside. Hundreds more – mostly women and children – are seeking shelter on the hospital’s grounds. The sanctity of health care must be respected at all times,” the Palestine News Agency (WAFA) quoted WHO as saying on X.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also expressed concern on his X about the call to evacuate the hospital.
“Disturbing reports about evacuation order to Al-Quds Hospital. As WHO has repeatedly stressed, it is impossible for these overcrowded hospitals to safely evacuate patients.
“They must be allowed to perform their lifesaving functions. They must be protected,” he stressed.
Previously, Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Alkaila has urgently appealed to the international community and all international human rights organisations to intervene and protect the Al Quds Hospital in Gaza from the threat of bombardment by the Israeli occupation authorities.
On Friday, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported at least 4,137 Palestinians, including 1,524 children and 1,000 women, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. = Bernama
