Israel-Hamas war: Gaza doctors say Al-Quds Hopsital evacuation is 'impossible' after Israeli order

Doctors working in a key hospital in Gaza have said that an Israeli-ordered evacuation of the health facility would be "impossible" to carry out.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Scoiety (PRCS), which operates in the hospital, has said that around 14,000 people are believed to be currently sheltering in the Al-Quds Hopsital and its grounds in Gaza City. Many of those at the hospital are patients in intensive care, with doctors lamenting that it would be impossible to move to those in need of urgent care.

The humanitarian organisation said that it received two calls from Israeli authorities orderings an evacuation of the hospital, adding the PCRS considered the calls a "clear and direct threat that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital". Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said that many of those in intensive care are children. She added: “Most of them are connected to oxygen machines. Evacuating them would be killing them.”

According to those in the area, airstrikes took place near to the Al-Quds Hospital overnight. In a video posted online, the PCRS said: "Continued Israeli air strikes in the Tal Al-Hawa area... where Al-Quds Hospital is located". The video itself appeared to show people gathered outside the hospital as airstrikes and explosions are head in the background.

Tom White from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said: "Many people in the north are seeking shelter in UNRWA schools, they're seeking shelter in hospitals. I was up and one of the hospitals this week and there are hundreds and hundreds of patients that can't be moved."

It comes after international speculation over the strike on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on 17 October. The facility was hit, resulting in almost 500 deaths, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry. The source of the strike became a much-debated topic, with some international communities - including the UK, the US, France and Canada - stating that intelligence suggested that the rocket had been fired from inside Gaza by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Palestinian officials have blamed Israel for the deadly strike, while video evidence of the rocket released by Israel has also been disputed by some.