Anand Till 21 November, 2023, more than 200 patients were still admitted in Al Awda and were unable to receive the level of care they need, claimed MSF.
“These patients must be urgently and safely evacuated to other hospitals that are still functioning although all hospitals in Gaza have been working beyond their capacities since October due to ongoing shortages, attacks and extremely high caseload,” it said.
“Seeing doctors killed next to hospital beds is beyond tragic, and this must stop now,” MSF said, adding that the attacks on medical facilities are a “serious violation of International Humanitarian Law, and this has become systematic in the past weeks.”
MSF has been working in Al Awda since 2018, providing reconstructive surgeries for adults and trauma surgeries for children.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) mourned the deaths of three doctors and a patient companion at Al Awda who were reportedly killed in an attack on the hospital on Tuesday.
.@WHO stands in solidarity with health workers at Al Awda Hospital in North Gaza, as well as colleagues at @MSF, and mourns the deaths of three doctors and a patient companion who were reportedly killed in an attack on the hospital today.
Reportedly, many were additionally… pic.twitter.com/5Ppmlmy57v
— WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) November 21, 2023
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel and Hamas backed a deal to free about 50 hostages from Gaza in return for a four-day ceasefire and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners – the first lull in a conflict that began on 7 October and has killed thousands of civilians.
What’s Israel-Hamas deal?
In the initial stage of the deal mediated by Qatar, Hamas will free 50 Israeli women and children held in Gaza.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Hamas said, in return, Israel has agreed to release about 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children.
In a second stage that could see the halt in fighting extended, the release of every 10 additional hostages by Hamas will lengthen the pause in fighting by one day, a statement by the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
“The humanitarian pause will also allow the entry of a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid, including fuel designated for humanitarian needs,” Qatar’s government said in a statement early Wednesday.
“The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours and last for four days, subject to extension,” it added.
With inputs from agencies
