‘Despite prior coordination for all staff members and vehicles with Israeli side, Israeli forces blocked WHO-led convoy for many hours,’ says Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine
GENEVA
The recent medical evacuation at Al Amal hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis marks “unacceptable security conditions” for humanitarian aid delivery, the UN Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine said on Tuesday.
Reading the team’s statement to a UN press briefing in Geneva, Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the evacuation of 24 patients, including one pregnant woman and one mother and a newborn, took place on Sunday from Al Amal hospital.
“Despite prior coordination for all staff members and vehicles with the Israeli side, the Israeli forces blocked the WHO-led convoy for many hours the moment it left the hospital. The Israeli military forced patients and staff out of ambulances and stripped all paramedics of their clothes,” the statement said.
It added that three Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics were subsequently detained, “although their personal details had been shared with the Israeli forces in advance,” while the rest of the convoy stayed in place for “over seven hours.”
The team noted in the statement that one paramedic has been released, and they appealed for the immediate release of the other two, and all other detained health workers.
“This is not an isolated incident. Aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need,” it said. “Humanitarian workers have been harassed, intimidated or detained by Israeli forces, and humanitarian infrastructure has been hit.”
It underscored: “The bare minimum is this: acknowledging notification of a humanitarian mission in advance comes with the responsibility of facilitating safe, smooth and rapid passage on the ground.”
Al Amal Hospital has been at the epicenter of military operations in Khan Younis for over a month. According to the statement, 40 attacks at the hospital from Jan. 22 to Feb. 22 killed at least 25.
The UN and PRCS had to leave another 31 non-critical patients at Al Amal hospital, the statement added.
Asked by Anadolu about Israeli remarks saying that a hostage deal cannot stop but delay the Rafah attack, Laerke said that the UN’s position is clear regarding the establishment of an immediate cease-fire and unconditional release of all captives.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice over its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has left nearly 30,000 people dead.
In an interim ruling in January, the Hague-based court ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
