Evacuation of European Hospital a ‘historic crime’, say Gaza authorities

Patients, doctors and nurses flee medical complex for fear of bloodshed after Israeli orders

Many injured Palestinian patients have been forced to leave the European Gaza Hospital and are now at the overcrowded Nasser Hospital. Reuters

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Authorities in Gaza on Wednesday said Israel’s order to evacuate the European Hospital and its surrounding area is a “historic crime” against the Palestinian people.

The hospital in Khan Younis is one of the enclave’s last standing medical complexes and is within the evacuation zone ordered by Israel on Monday.

Doctors at the hospital say a number of patients, including those in intensive care and babies in incubators, have been transferred elsewhere “in fear of bloodshed”.

Dr Hossam Shahwan said those seeking safety began fleeing in panic after the Israeli warning.

“Patients were also evacuated by ambulance to Nasser Medical Hospital along with some medical staff and nurses, fearing attacks by the Israeli army,” Dr Shahwan told The National.

Doctors and nurses made the decision to leave after seeing the violence and brutality that had ensued at the Al Shifa and Nasser hospitals, he said.

Dr Shahwan said the European Hospital, which is now out of service because of the fighting nearby, had been the only medical complex providing treatment to the wounded and sick in the area.

“No services are being provided and there are no medical staff here,” he said.

The Government Media Office in Gaza condemned the Israeli army's orders to evacuate the hospital, describing it as a new "historical crime."

"The Israeli army is committing a historical crime by issuing orders and maps forcing the European Hospital and hundreds of medical teams east of Khan Younis to evacuate and leave the hospital," it said.

The evacuation "constitutes as a humanitarian disaster that deepens the health crisis in the Gaza Strip, which has reached an unprecedented level, threatening the lives of thousands of injured and sick people, as the occupation has placed it in the red target zone and ordered immediate evacuation”, said the statement.

The Israeli army said the area surrounding the European Hospital is now a “dangerous combat zone”.

The World Health Organisation said 270 patients reportedly self-evacuated on Monday, along with medical staff, and Gaza's Health Ministry evacuated more patients the following day.

"Now only three patients remain at the European Gaza Hospital and three at the ICRC field hospital. Most patients have been referred to Nasser Medical Complex," the WHO said.

"As witnessed several times during the ongoing war, insecurity in a hospital's proximity and lack of access for patients, health workers and humanitarians to resupply fuel, medical supplies, water and food can make hospitals non-functional very quickly."

The UN health agency said it would try to support attempts to transfer valuable medical equipment and supplies out of the hospital.

"European Gaza Hospital was one of the few remaining key referral hospitals south of Wadi Gaza, where the majority of the population is," said Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories.

Having seen the effect that previous evacuation orders have had, "this time, the hospital staff and the patients decided to evacuate themselves", he added.

He said that 16 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza were partly functioning, while of the 10 field hospitals, four were fully functioning and another four partially.

A total of 43 of 99 primary healthcare centres remain functional at some level.

Mr Peeperkorn said he hoped the European Hospital "will be spared" in any Israeli military assault on the area.

He said "most staff" had left, though some medical workers are staying alongside the three remaining patients.

More than 37,900 Palestinians have been killed and 87,266 injured in the Israeli military offensive since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday.