'No order was given for evacuation of patients or medical teams from Al Shifa Hospital': IDF
Nov 18, 2023
Tel Aviv [Israel], November 18 : The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday denied that they demanded Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City to evacuate within an hour, adding that it only accepted the requests of the medical centre's director to make a safe route for those who wished to leave, The Times of Israel reported.
"This morning, the IDF acceded to the request of the director of Shifa Hospital to enable additional Gazans who were in the hospital and would like to evacuate to do so via the secure route," the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF further stated that they had in fact proposed that any requests for medical evacuation would be provided by the IDF, according to The Times of Israel.
"At no point did the IDF order the evacuation of patients or medical teams and in fact, it proposed that any request for medical evacuation would be facilitated by the IDF," the statement added.
Moreover, it said that the medical professionals will be there in the hospital to support patients in Al-Shifa Hospital who cannot evacuate.
"Medical personnel will remain in the hospital to support patients who are unable to evacuate," the IDF said.
The IDF added that it would also provide additional food, water and humanitarian aid to Shifa overnight, according to The Times of Israel.
The war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 43rd day following the October 7 attack on Israel.
As Israel continues its ground operation in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces confirmed on Wednesday that they are carrying out a precise and targeted operation in a specific region in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The operation is being carried out based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.
Israel President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that his country is not targeting hospitals in Gaza and asserted that Hamas has placed command and control centres under the hospitals and "they are shooting and killing" Israeli citizens from there.
Isaac Herzog said Israel Defence Forces are making sure that none of the patients, the doctors, or the crew, or the operations are stopped.
"I agree there are many civilians in Gaza who are innocent and not involved. But because this place was taken over, we have to remove that. In the hospitals what we are doing is, we are making sure that none of the patients, the doctors, or the crew, or the operations are even stopped," he said.
