Nasser Hospital's evacuation would be 'beyond disastrous,' WHO official says

GENEVA / ISTANBUL

A World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that the evacuation of the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza, which was attacked on Monday by Israel, would be "beyond disastrous."

"I do not want to think what the implications would be if NMC (Nasser Medical Complex) would become non-functional. Would be beyond disastrous for the crippled health system and its suffering population," Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, told Anadolu.

Peeperkorn noted that there are currently no plans for evacuation and warned that it should "never" happen, pointing to the hospital's "critical importance" as the "largest referral hospital" in Gaza.

"The attacks on Nasser Medical Complex yesterday are completely unacceptable," he said.

Peeperkorn also stressed that the occupancy rate at the complex has reached 300% and that the WHO is providing medical support to this hospital as much as possible.

At least 47 Palestinians, including six journalists, were killed Monday and dozens were injured in fresh Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, according to medics.

The Health Ministry initially said 20 people were killed, including five journalists and a firefighter, in an Israeli strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

It said the Israeli army hit the fourth floor of one of the complex’s buildings with two airstrikes, noting that the second strike occurred as rescue teams arrived to evacuate the wounded and recover the dead.

Among the deceased was Hussam al-Masri, who worked as a photojournalist for the Reuters news agency, while the Qatari channel Al Jazeera confirmed that its photographer Mohammad Salama was also killed.

A medical source confirmed to Anadolu the death of photojournalist Mariam Abu Dagga.

Photojournalist Moaz Abu Taha was also killed in the Israeli strike targeting the hospital.

Medical sources also told Anadolu that Ahmed Abu Aziz, a freelance reporter with Tunisian and Moroccan news sites, died of injuries he sustained in the Israeli strike.

Israel has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.