Gaza clinics shut and aid warehouse raided as Israel intensifies attacks on Deir Al Balah

WHO staff were 'handcuffed, stripped and interrogated at gunpoint'

Displaced Palestinians after an Israeli military operation in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, on Tuesday. Reuters

A British charity has accused Israel of “accelerating the systemic dismantling” of Gaza's healthcare system after its clinic in Deir Al Balah was forced to close as Israel widens its military offensive.

Medical Aid for Palestinians' staff were given only six hours to evacuate by the Israelis, according to Liz Allcock, the charity's head of humanitarian protection. Shelling is now taking place around the premises.

“Nine clinics, five shelters, and a vital community kitchen have been forced to shut down,” the group said. The facilities affected include a polyclinic that provides life-saving help along with physiotherapy and mental health services to an average of 320 patients a day.

The closure comes after the Israeli army launched ground operations in Deir Al Balah, an area of central Gaza it had not entered since the Gaza war began. Deir Al Balah plays host to most of the UN and international aid agencies operating in the enclave. It was previously designated a safe zone by Israel.

The clearance of the area means 88 per cent of Gaza is now under some sort of eviction order by Israel. A World Health Organisation (WHO) aid warehouse also fell victim to the Israeli military operation on Monday night when it was raided by Israeli forces.

Displaced Gazans flee Deir Al Balah again after Israeli eviction order

01:11

Male staff and family members were “handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint”, the WHO said in a statement. One staff member is still in detention.

The warehouse was also sheltering displaced civilians. Women and children were told to move south towards Al Mawasi, where Israel's defence minister has announced plans for a camp to house 600,000 Palestinians.

The living quarters of the staff were attacked three times, while air strikes caused fires and extensive damage to the warehouse, the WHO said. “The Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot towards Al Mawasi amid active conflict,” it added. The WHO called the episode “part of a pattern of systemic destruction of health facilities”.

Israel has sought to shift aid operations in Gaza away from the UN and other established humanitarian groups by launching the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-backed group.

But the GHF's operations have been marred by deaths near its aid sites, with the Israeli military accused of repeatedly opening fire on Palestinian civilians seeking supplies. More than 1,000 people have been killed since the end of May while seeking food from the GHF, the UN says.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen, with reports of children starving to death. Essential workers are fainting on duty due to hunger, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday. The threat of air strikes was adding to the danger, added Ms Allcock.

“You cannot deliver medicine, water or nutritional supplements while under attack, or drive ambulances on streets with ground troops,” she said. But many workers were carrying on regardless, she added. “People are telling us they'd rather die from bombing than slowly through starvation.”