The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for Israel to rescind its 24-hour ultimatum for residents of Gaza to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The ultimatum was given ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for its attack on Israeli soil.
"The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that it is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients without endangering their lives," the UN health body said in a statement.
"Vulnerable patients include those who are critically injured or dependent on life support. Moving them amid hostilities puts their lives at immediate risk."
WHO's Bid to Stop Israel
The WHO's statement was the latest in a string of calls by several UN agencies to rescind the evacuation order.
"A mass evacuation would be disastrous - for patients, health workers, and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement," the WHO added, adding that the two major hospitals in the north of Gaza have been way over capacity, with the four others south of the Wadi Gaza also beyond capacity.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic earlier told reporters in Geneva that the Gaza Strip's health system was now at "breaking point," with six of the seven main hospitals only partially functioning, France 24 reported.
"[The WHO calls for] an end to hostilities and violence in the Gaza Strip, where unimaginable human suffering is unfolding," he added.
Israel has given Al Awda Hospital in Gaza just two hours to evacuate.
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) October 13, 2023
Our staff are still treating patients.
MSF unequivocally condemns this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza.
We are trying to protect our staff and patients.
MSF Calls Israeli Order to Evacuate Northern Gaza 'Outrageous'
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said they have around 300 people working as staff in Gaza, most of them based in Gaza City in the north, which was being ordered by Israel to evacuate.
The organization said moving over 1 million people to the south of the strip was impossible and would only worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
"The Israeli government's 24-hour notice that people in northern Gaza must leave their land, homes, and hospitals is outrageous," MSF general director Meinie Nicolai said. "This represents an attack on medical care and on humanity."
Earlier, MSF tweeted its condemnation of the Israeli ultimatum.
"MSF unequivocally condemns this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza," it stated. "We are trying to protect our staff and patients."
