United Nations/Prensa Latina
UN humanitarian agencies in Gaza expressed deep frustration on Tuesday over the restrictions on access to aid imposed by the Israeli army to reach a hospital in Khan Younis, south of Gaza.
After the hours-long detention of ambulances and staff to evacuate patients from the affected Al Amal medical institution over the weekend, humanitarian teams recalled that this is not an isolated incident.
Aid convoys have been attacked and access to people in need has been systematically denied, a situation aggravated particularly in the north of the enclave under siege since last October.
Spokesperson for the Coordination Office for Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) Jens Laerke confirmed that several of the evacuated patients required some type of surgical intervention which, of course, could not occur at Al Amal hospital.
The evacuation mission previously notified Israeli authorities of the operation, while they recognized the notification as part of standard deconfliction protocols, OCHA said.
However, the occupying forces did not issue any information or communication about why the ambulances were detained for at least seven hours or why the paramedics were taken out and forced to undress, the spokesperson denounced in this regard.
According to Laerke, two of the members of the convoy have not yet been released.
Despite the setbacks, the aid mission led by the World Health Organization and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society managed to evacuate 24 patients, including a pregnant woman, a mother and a newborn.
Since October 7, almost 30,000 Gazans have died, most of them women and children, following the Israeli offensive launched in response to attacks by the Hamas group in the south of the country.
The World Health Organization estimates that only 12 of its 36 hospitals are “partially functioning” in the Strip: six in the south and six in the north, while 23 facilities are not functioning at all.
Another 15 emergency medical teams are working in the southern part of the enclave with four field hospitals that offer a combined capacity of 305 beds, an alternative response to the growing needs of civilians and Israel’s lack of access.
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