Gaza’s Anglican hospital ready to reopen, but health emergency remains
Christian leader expects the facility to reopen, but the situation remains uncertain due to Israel’s new order to evacuate Gaza City. Meanwhile, the IDF has denied reports that it ordered the shutdown of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. For Nasrallah, a truce in Gaza will stop the confrontation on the northern front as well. The US is cautiously optimistic about a negotiated deal.
Gaza (AsiaNews) – “Good news! Following reassurances from the Israeli army, al-Ahli Hospital will be able to open again tomorrow,” wrote yesterday Richard Sewell, dean of St George's College in Jerusalem, on X (formerly Twitter).
However, a few hours later, the situation is still uncertain, the Christian leader noted, because of the order by the Israeli army to evacuate Gaza City, undermining plans to reopen the “hospital of sharing”.
“New Israel army order today to evacuate Gaza City jeopardises the plan to re-open Al Ahli Hospital. These are confusion tactics and everyone is terrified,” Sewell noted.
In his message, the Christian leader also reported that “the driver of our ambulance which was hit by a missile has been found alive and uninjured.”
In fact, optimism to see the hospital reopen seems premature. “The area of Gaza City around the hospital is terrifyingly dangerous at present,” Sewell added. “Before the evacuation we were receiving up to 600 people per day who needed treatment or surgery for their injuries.”
Contacted by Reuters, the Israeli military said in a statement that it had instructed civilians in specific areas of Gaza City to move out to minimise the risk to their lives. It also told Palestinian health officials and the international community that there was no need to evacuate hospitals in the area, al-Ahli Arab included.
Fadel Naeem, the director of the Al-Ahli Hospital, said patients fled the facility for the surrounding area even though there was no evacuation order. Those in critical condition had already been evacuated to other hospitals in northern Gaza.
Marwan al-Sultan, director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, said it received 80 patients and wounded people from Al-Ahli who were packed into “every corner.”
Gaza's health facilities are in critical situation, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which was forced to temporarily close its last facility in northern Gaza, following the evacuation order.
“We don't know what to eat or drink. Where to go ... We sleep in the streets,” said MSF mechanic Suhail Habib who worked at the clinic. “No one cares about us. I am upset because wounded people will come to the clinic, and they will find it closed,” he lamented.
As a result of repeated closures, people in northern Gaza have almost no options left for essential healthcare.
Meanwhile, negotiations to reach a truce in Gaza continue, a key step to limit the terrible humanitarian crisis in the territory and prevent further escalation in the "northern front", where the Israeli army is facing off Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The head of the self-styled Party of God, Hassan Nasrallah, said that “If there is a ceasefire in Gaza then our front will also cease fire without discussion, irrespective of any other agreement or mechanisms or negotiations."
“We see the successes and exploits that are being achieved day by day,” said Lebanese Shia leader, speaking from his bunker. “From the beginning, we wanted this Lebanese support front to exhaust the enemy's forces”. This means that “we can make the enemy understand that the ceasefire on Israel's northern front depends on the cease-fire in Gaza.”
For the Shia leader, the situation is clear: “The Israelis are aware that a ceasefire must be achieved in Gaza because it is the only way to stop the fighting in the north”.
For its part, the Washington Post is reporting that Hamas has agreed to a plan for an “interim government” in the Gaza Strip as part of the second phase of a deal that would end the war and see the hostages released.
This interim government would not be linked to either Hamas or Israel, but would include a force of about 2,500 supporters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza who will be entrusted with security issues, after training by the US.
meanwhile, the United States was "cautiously optimistic" about Gaza ceasefire talks, said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby who noted that the gap between the sides could be overcome as “things were moving in a good direction.”
.png)
17/05/2021 10:29
