Gaza’s second-largest hospital said it was told by Israel on Sunday to clear its building ahead of airstrikes targeting it even though the facility has repeatedly warned evacuation is impossible.
After Israel’s warning, a video was uploaded on social media showing the clear effects of the airstrike on Tal Al Hawa, where Al Quds Hospital is located, with clouds of smoke visible just a few blocks from the site.
Representative of the Israel Defense Forces Maj. Nir Dinar told CNN that the hospital was warned repeatedly to evacuate.
“They received more than two [warnings] for the last three weeks,” said Dinar.
Hospital officials said they received two calls Sunday to evacuate their building, as the IDF had planned a series of airstrikes on it and in the area to kill Hamas terrorists, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which runs the facility.
The cowardly terrorist group is known to hide in buildings filled with innocent civilians, such as hospitals and schools, so that Israel does not attack them.
“Two phone calls were received, with a clear and direct threat, that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS takes full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital,” the organization said.
Dust clouds from airstrikes in Gaza could be seen encroaching on Al Quds Hospital on Sunday after a warning from the Israeli army. @jacksonhinklle/X A building in the area was destroyed in an airstrike Sunday. Twitter capture of footage showing the effects of Israeli airstrikes on the Tal al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza where Al Quds Hospital is located.@arooj_farhat / X
Raed Al Nems, head of media for the PRCS, said similar warnings were made before several airstrikes in Tal Al Hawa but this was the first to threaten a direct attack on the hospital.
“In the past days, they used to say we had to move because they were going to target the area,” he told The New York Times. “This time it’s clear that they want to target us.”
The hospital has repeatedly warned that it is not possible to evacuate its building, as it treats hundreds of patients and serves as a shelter for about 12,000 displaced civilians.
The hospital said it also had many patients in intensive care and children in incubators who could not be moved so easily.
The PRCS has called on Israel and humanitarian groups operating in Gaza to support the hospital and called on the IDF to avoid any airstrikes in the area.
Civilians try to take cover during Israeli airstrikes.@arooj_farhat/X Smoke and bright flashes engulf Gaza as Israeli jets launch flares Sunday.Twitter
“We call once again on the international community as a whole, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the UN system and International agencies to act immediately and save Al Quds Hospital, as well as all hospitals in Gaza from being targeted, and to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from happening, ” said the hospital in a statement.
Along with fears of airstrikes, the PRCS said the situation at the hospital was becoming desperate as it ran out of fuel and medical supplies, with some ambulances unable to operate due to a lack of gas, the Times reported.
The situation is so dire that the United Nations World Food Program revealed Sunday that aid supplies have been looted in Gaza during a “growing famine and desperation.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
