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Monday, November 13, 2023
Hamas, UN say many patients, health workers and displaced have left Shifa hospital
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Many displaced Palestinians, along with some medical patients, have left Gaza’s largest hospital, which is surrounded by Israeli forces, Hamas and UN health officials say.
About 650 patients, 500 healthcare workers and an estimated 2,500 displaced people remain in the sprawling Shifa hospital compound, says Mohammed Zaqout, Hamas’s director of hospitals in Gaza. This would signal a significant departure since the weekend when Gaza health officials had said about 1,500 patients, along with 1,500 medical workers and 15,000 displaced people were at Shifa.
Israeli forces and Hamas gunmen have waged heavy battles outside Shifa, and some hospital officials have said Shifa was under siege, with those inside being pinned down by Israeli fire. Israel has said it had offered safe passage to those wanting to leave.
The situation at Shifa deteriorated over the weekend, with doctors reporting that the last generator had run out of fuel, leading to the deaths of several patients, including premature babies. Israel said Hamas stopped the hospital receiving a delivery for fuel.
The UN official says today that many of the displaced fled the compound and that some families took relatives with moderate injuries with them. He says remaining patients require special procedures for evacuation including equipped ambulances to take them to Egyptian hospitals. The official speaks on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Israel says Hamas has its command center under the hospital and is using the civilians and patients there as human shields.
The Times of Israel Community.