Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has issued a statement warning about the imminent threat of Israeli military assaults against hospitals in northern Gaza.
This came as the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Israeli tanks have surrounded four hospitals from all directions, namely al-Rantisi Hospital, al-Nasser Hospital and government eye and mental health hospitals.
The ministry confirmed that thousands of patients, medical staff and displaced people are trapped inside the hospitals without water or food.
People at al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City posted a video on social media about the situation.
In the video, a women said that they were given a warning to evacuate, but there are no representatives from the Red Cross or any organisation that may guarantee the safety of all patients and civilians.
The journey from Nasser and al-Rantisi hospitals to the east of Salah al-Din Street in Gaza City is very dangerous and has been hit repeatedly by air strikes.
The statement issued by MAP read, “Israel has ordered 12 still-functioning hospitals in northern areas to evacuate, making threats against them with increasingly bellicose rhetoric.”
It added, “These essential facilities contain thousands of patients, hundreds of staff trying to treat the ever-growing number of wounded, and tens of thousands of displaced people seeking shelter from Israel’s bombs.”
MAP CEO, Melanie Ward urged the international community to take urgent action to protect hospitals.
“Given Israel’s persistent history of violations against Palestinian healthcare, documented by MAP and partners over many years and carried out with blanket impunity, political leaders should take our warnings seriously and act swiftly.
“Palestinian civilians and healthcare must be protected and Israel must cease its attacks on hospitals now. The media must also be responsible in their reporting and ensure they do not become complicit in Israel’s ongoing attacks against healthcare.”
Melanie Ward
Currently, the number of hospitals that have gone out of service since the beginning of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, has reached 21.
The Palestinian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates says Israel “kidnaps hospitals as hostages for extortion” in Gaza.
In a statement, the ministry said Israel was continuing its siege of hospitals to “blackmail” the international community for “political gains” and to force Palestinians to move to the south in a “new episode of genocide”.
The ministry also called on the international community to respect its position on protecting civilians and to apply pressure on the “occupying state” to commit to this.
Meanwhile, al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City came under attack five times in less than 24 hours.
The hospital, the biggest, in the besieged enclave, has been a major target for Israeli air strikes since the start of the war.
Israeli forces claim that the hospital is located above the headquarters of Hamas – which Hamas has rejected.
A Part Of Israeli Military Doctrine
Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor who has regularly volunteered at al-Shifa Hospital, opined that targeting hospitals is part of the Israeli military’s doctrine.
Gilbert said, “They will shoot at anything that they consider Palestinian: Infrastructure, schools, churches, mosques, hospitals, ambulances, civilians.
“So, of course, what we see now is the most extreme expression of a racist politic where you do not respect human values,” Gilbert told a news agency.
“The scenes from al-Shifa today were horrific … would this have been accepted by Europe and the U.S if these had been hospitals caring for white people in Europe? Never ever. This is racist politics, it’s utterly disgusting and I think we have to consider this as the greatest moral collapse in Western politics in my generation.”
Mads Gilbert
“It keeps going, and it’s not hell. Gaza 2023 makes hell look like a tea party,” Gilbert added.
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