LONDON: British doctors have been forced to stop working and flee from the only functional hospital in the Gaza Strip amid Israeli bombardments, Arab media reported on Wednesday.
While fleeing they expressed deep concern about their patients and the remaining staff at the medical facility as Israel’s war on the territory enters its fourth month.
Deborah Harrington, who worked as an obstetrician at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, told media that Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza decreased the number of paramedics at the facility.
She said there are about 600 and 700 patients still being treated inside the hospital each day, and hundreds of displaced Palestinians are taking shelter over there.
Surgeon Nick Maynard said that without any sufficient healthcare staff, it will be a disaster for the people of Gaza.
It is pertinent to mention that hospitals are protected from attacks by international humanitarian law and precautionary measures must be taken to protect patients at the medical facilities during military operations.
READ ALSO: Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 23,357 as Israel Keeps Bombing Palestinian Territory
According to Medical Aid for Palestinians and the International Rescue Committee their workers had been forced to withdraw and stop activities because of Israeli military activity near Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Earlier, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it had received troubling reports of increasing hostilities near Al-Aqsa hospital that forced over 600 patients and most health workers to leave.
He said that Al-Aqsa was the most important hospital in Gaza and must remain operation.
According to the health ministry in Gaza the death toll from the relentless Israeli bombardment has now reached at 23,357, mostly women and children.
