The Palestine Red Crescent Society calls on the international community to provide protection for its headquarters and medical and EMS teams in Khan Yunis [EN/AR]

(Al-Bireh - Gaza: 27/1/2024) The Palestine Red Crescent Society condemns the siege and targeting by the Israeli occupation of PRCS Al-Amal Hospital, and its branch headquarters in Khan Yunis for the sixth consecutive day. The occupation continues to bombard the vicinity of the hospital and open fire, jeopardizing the safety of medical staff, the wounded, patients, and approximately 7000 displaced individuals who sought refuge there to escape Israeli bombardment.

Since the beginning of the continuous targeting of the hospital and the PRCS's headquarters for about four weeks, dozens have been killed and injured inside our facilities and in their surroundings. This is in addition to the state of terror and panic experienced by the medical staff and the displaced in the corridors and various sections of the building, which has been severely damaged due to continuous bombardment in the vicinity of the hospital and the PRCS's headquarters. The curfew and the continued blockade in the hospital's vicinity hinder the movement of ambulances and their emergency medical teams in the city, preventing them from reaching the injured, providing first aid services, and transporting them to the hospital for necessary medical care.

The PRCS emphasizes that this direct Israeli targeting of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis is part of a series of systematic attacks on its centers and its teams throughout the Gaza Strip. This siege and its consequences are a blatant violation of international agreements, especially the provisions of international humanitarian law that require the Israeli occupation to respect the Red Crescent emblem, medical missions, facilitate its humanitarian work, and allow medical teams access to civilians entitled to receive medical care.

The PRCS denies the false claims of the Israeli occupation about the presence of armed individuals inside the hospital building. It confirms that it doesn’t have direct coordination with the Israeli occupation, and there has been no communication from the Israeli forces with the hospital administration. The hospital, still besieged with all its staff, patients, and displaced individuals, cannot receive the wounded due to the continuous bombardment of the city.

The Palestine Red Crescent urges the international community and partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to intervene immediately and urgently to protect Al-Amal Hospital and protect the medical teams, the wounded, patients, and displaced individuals who are threatened every moment by the continuous siege and bombardment by the Israeli occupation.