The WHO says the forced evacuation of Gaza patients is akin to a “death sentence” and “strongly condemns” Israel’s orders for such a move.
The World Health Organization said that forcing thousands of hospital patients to evacuate to already overflowing hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip could be “tantamount to a death sentence”.
Israel has warned Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
“WHO strongly condemns Israel’s repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 inpatients in northern Gaza,” the UN health agency said in a statement on Saturday.
“The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.”
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Moving 2,000 patients to southern Gaza, “where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number [of] patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence,” the WHO said.
