Panic as Gaza’s al-Shifa evacuates, Israel army denies ordering it to do so
Al JazeeraMore than 7,000 people, including critical patients, were housed in the hospital that Israeli troops have besieged for days. Israeli forces ordered doctors, patients and displaced people at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital to evacuate the medical compound, forcing some to leave by gunpoint, doctors and Palestinian officials told Al Jazeera. Mohammed Zaqout, director general of hospitals in Gaza, told Al Jazeera: “I categorically deny these false allegations … I am telling you, we were forced to leave by gunpoint.” He said the Israeli army called the hospital management at 8am and told them to evacuate the complex, the largest hospital in Gaza, within an hour. But “patients who cannot move, amputees, and those with critical conditions” were forced to remain behind with a handful of medical staff, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of the al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera. ‘Appalling’ After the Israeli army’s deadline passed on Saturday morning, Omar Zaqout, the hospital’s supervisor, told Al Jazeera that forced evacuations began, adding that the scenes outside the facility were “appalling”.