Gaza hospital: "The situation became so dangerous because of the constant threats of drones and snipers."

[Update on 6/1]

After days of artillery fighting in #Gaza's Middle Area and following late morning evacuation order flyers dropped by Israeli forces for neighborhoods around #AlAqsa hospital where MSF works, MSF took the difficult decision to evacuate staff and their families from the area.

“It is with heavy conscience that we have to evacuate while patients, hospital staff and many people seeking safety remain in the hospital premises,” says Carolina Lopez, emergency coordinator at Al-Aqsa hospital. 

Yesterday, at 13:30, a bullet heavily penetrated a wall in Al-Aqsa hospital’s intensive care unit. Over the last couple of days, drone attacks and snipers fire were just a few hundred meters from the hospital. 

“The situation became so dangerous that some staff living in the neighbouring areas were not able to leave their houses because of the constant threats of drones and snipers,” says Lopez. “Patient care was being affected with reduced staff at the hospital.”

“We reiterate that Israel has an obligation under International Humanitarian Law to protect patients and staff who are still working in the only functioning hospital in Gaza’s Middle Area,” Lopez added.

No one and nowhere is safe in Gaza. MSF continues to urgently call for a sustained #ceasefire to prevent more deaths and injuries.

4/1

From the hospital, we can hear the bombing in the neighbourhoods northeast of Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza’s Middle Area, near the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi refugee camps,” says Carolina Lopez, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza. 

As fighting nears Al-Aqsa hospital, MSF teams are having to adapt to dangerous conditions to provide healthcare. “We had to move our wound-dressing activities from the tent in the hospital courtyard to inside the premises to protect staff and patients” says Lopez. 

On 24 December, strikes on the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi camps caused a massive influx of patients at Al-Aqsa, followed by 155 people killed and 357 needing emergency care on December 28.