Palestinian patients desperately leave al-Aqsa hospital as Israeli army orders Deir al-Balah evacuation

Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in the centre of Gaza has become out of service, the municipality of Deir al-Balah said on Monday. 

In a press statement sent to The New Arab, the Deir al-Balah municipality said that "because of the new Israeli evacuation orders, the majority of medical staff, patients and displaced people escaped from the hospital."

"The recent Israeli evacuation orders resulted in the closure of the only hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, and forced the displacement of nearly 250,000 citizens, and the closure of 25 shelters," the municipality added. 

On Sunday, the Israeli army issued a new order to evacuate Palestinian residents in "block 128", forcing them to move to western areas of the city of Deir al-Balah. 

"To all residents and displaced persons in the Deir al-Balah city in block 128, you must evacuate immediately to the west of the city [...] our forces will operate forcefully against Hamas and the terrorist organisations in your area," Avichai Adraee, the spokesperson of the army, declared in a press statement. 

"Officially, the Israeli army did not ask us to evacuate the hospital, but the displaced and patients fear a surprise military operation that would target the hospital and cause massacres against them, as happened other hospitals in Gaza," Iyad al-Jabri, the director of the hospital, remarked to TNA. 

A few days ago, the hospital was housing more than 20,000 Palestinians, including displaced people, patients, medical staff and journalists. Currently, only 100 persons, including medical staff and patients, remain inside the hospital, according to al-Jabri. 

Once the Israeli army released its new evacuation order, thousands of Palestinians, including patients, rushed to evacuate the hospital as well as the surrounding houses. 

Noaman Nassar, a 19-year-old injured man, was among those who decided to escape from the hospital before it will likely be stormed by the Israeli army. "I should stay in the hospital for treatment, but I cannot guarantee that the Israeli army will not storm the hospital as they did in Naser hospital and killed dozens there," Nassar remarked to TNA. 

Nima Abdul Fattah, a nurse in the children's department in the hospital, also evacuated the hospital with dozens of medical personnel to avoid any possible Israeli attack on the hospital. 

"It is not easy to evacuate the hospital, mainly because it is the only working hospital in the central part of Gaza [...] But we do not have any other chances," the 35-year-old nurse said to TNA. 

With her colleagues, Nima went to the European Hospital in Khan Younis to continue providing crucial medical care for patients who arrived at the hospital. 

At least 84 per cent of Gaza's population is now within the "evacuation zone", according to the United Nations, which said in a press statement that about 90 per cent of 2.1 million Gaza's residents have been displaced during the war.

The UN added that more than 13 evacuation orders have been issued since 22 July, significantly reducing the size of the humanitarian zone that Israel declared at the start of the war.

"The evacuation orders were issued almost every two days in August alone, displacing nearly 250,000 people," the UN elaborated. 

"As a result of the ongoing Israeli evacuation orders, the army reduced the areas it claims are 'safe humanitarian zones' in the Strip from 230 km to merely 35 km," Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman of the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza told TNA.