Gaza Strip
UN: Israel delays convoy of patients for seven hours
Destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis. According to the UN, the Israeli military is said to have stopped and delayed an ambulance convoy in front of the Al Amal hospital in the city in the Gaza Strip. photo
© Ahmed Zakot/dpa
Despite prior registration and approval, Israeli soldiers are said to have stopped an ambulance convoy with numerous patients. “Not an isolated case,” is the accusation.
The incident occurred on Sunday in front of the Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis. The convoy was led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and was properly registered and approved. The Israeli army said it was reviewing the report.
The medics had to undress when the military stopped the convoy, Laerke reported. Three were taken away. One of them has since been released. The patients could ultimately have been distributed to other facilities. However, 31 seriously ill people could no longer have been transported. Like around 180 people who had sought refuge in the hospital, they and 45 members of the nursing staff stayed behind. The hospital was virtually destroyed by around 40 attacks within a month.
“This is not an isolated case,” said Laerke. “Aid convoys are repeatedly shot at and systematically denied access to people in need. Humanitarian workers have been harassed, intimidated and detained by Israeli forces, and humanitarian facilities have been hit,” he continued.