"WHO Urges Withdrawal of Evacuation Order in Gaji District Amid Critical Patient Transfer Ban and Medical Staff Stay"

Transport of Critical Patients Virtually Impossible
Majority of Medical Staff and Caregivers Decide to Stay
Tens of Thousands of Displaced Persons Also Seek Refuge in Hospital Grounds

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly urged the Israeli military to withdraw its evacuation order for residents of the Gaza Strip.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 14th (local time), WHO issued a statement strongly condemning the repeated evacuation orders issued to medical facilities in northern Gaza, saying, "Forced evacuation of medical staff and patients will only worsen the catastrophic situation."

According to the statement, more than 2,000 patients are housed in 22 medical institutions in northern Gaza, where evacuation orders have been issued. WHO emphasized that many patients are in critical condition, relying on life-support devices such as ventilators in intensive care units, undergoing blood dialysis, newborns in incubators, and women suffering from pregnancy complications, all of whom face life-threatening risks if not treated promptly.

WHO also pointed out that medical facilities in southern Gaza, where the Israeli military has requested patient transfers, are already at full capacity and cannot handle an increase in patients. Using the same wording as in the statement on the 13th, WHO protested, saying, "Transferring patients under these circumstances is tantamount to sentencing them to death."

WHO emphasized that most medical staff and caregivers in northern Gaza's medical facilities have chosen to remain on site, considering the critical condition of the patients, rather than evacuate. WHO stated, "Medical personnel face the painful dilemma of whether to stay on site to treat patients at the risk of their own lives, or to transfer patients to facilities that lack capacity or abandon critically ill patients." It added, "An overwhelming majority of medical staff and caregivers have decided to stay and uphold their commitment as healthcare professionals," and "Healthcare workers cannot be forced to make the impossible choice of forcibly transferring patients."

WHO stressed, "In northern Gaza's medical facilities, injured patients continue to arrive, and some are being treated in hallways or outdoors due to a shortage of beds," adding, "tens of thousands of displaced people gathered to avoid attacks are also using open spaces around hospitals as shelters."

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