PALESTINE Gaza: Anglican hospital prepares to reopen, but health emergency continues

A Christian leader said he would resume his activities, but the situation remains uncertain due to the army’s “new order” to “evacuate” the city. Meanwhile, the IDF denies having imposed the order to close Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. Nasrallah believes that a truce in the Strip will also suspend the conflict on the northern front. Cautious US optimism about an agreement in the negotiations.

Gaza () – “Good news!” Richard Sewell, dean of St George’s College in Jerusalem, announced yesterday evening on his X profile (formerly Twitter) the resumption of activities at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, “following assurances” received “from the Israeli army”. However, hours later the situation remains uncertain due, explains the Christian leader, to the “new order” from the Israeli army to “evacuate the city of Gaza”, which “endangers the plan to reopen” what is known as the “hospital of coexistence”. “These are tactics that create confusion – he adds – and everyone is terrified.”

In the message that was reproduced yesterday on social networks, the Christian leader reports that the Al Ahli Arab hospital can “reopen tomorrow” [por hoy, ndr.]”, adding that “even the driver of our ambulance, who was hit by a missile [israelí]was found alive and unharmed.” In reality, optimism about the return to operation of a structure essential to responding to the needs of the population remains “uncertain”, while at the moment the area surrounding Gaza City is “terribly dangerous”. Before the evacuation – explained Richard Sewell – we received up to 600 people a day who needed treatment or surgery for their injuries.”

Contacted by Reuters, The Star of David army said in a statement that it had instructed civilians in specific areas of Gaza City to “move away” to minimise the risk to their lives. However, it clarified that it had told “Palestinian health officials and the international community that there was no need to evacuate hospitals in the area”, including Al Ahli. Fadel Naeem, director of the Anglican hospital, explained that “patients fled the centre despite there being no evacuation order for the surrounding areas”. He added that “those who are in critical condition have been evacuated to other hospitals in northern Gaza”. Marwan al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian hospital, said that he had received 80 patients and wounded from Al-Ahli who were crammed into “every corner”.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) workers confirm the critical situation in Gaza’s health centres. Following the evacuation order, they too have been forced in recent days to “temporarily” close the last centre still operating in the north of the Strip. “We have nothing to eat or drink.” […] “In the end we sleep on the streets,” says MSF operator Suhail Habib, who like many other team members has been displaced several times since the start of the war. “Nobody cares about us. I am angry,” he adds, “because the wounded will arrive at the clinic and find it closed” and because of the repeated closures, people in the north “have almost no chance of receiving even essential care.”

Meanwhile, negotiations for a truce in Gaza continue, a fundamental step to limit the already serious humanitarian emergency and also to “extinguish” what is called the “northern front” of the conflict, where the Israeli army and the Lebanese Shiite militias of Hezbollah are facing each other. In these hours, the head of the “Party of God”, Hassan Nasrallah, has intervened, stating that “if there is an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza, our front will also cease (hostilities) without any negotiation.” Speaking from his bunker, the Lebanese Shiite leader added that “we are achieving the objectives of our campaign, to wear down the enemy” and this implies “pressuring Israel to accept a ceasefire.” In this context, he concludes, “the equation is clear: if they want tranquility in the north, there must be a ceasefire” in the Strip.

For his part, the Washington Post The source said Hamas had agreed to a plan for an “interim government” in the Gaza Strip as part of the second phase of a deal that would end the war and free the hostages. The interim government, the source said, would not be linked to Hamas or Israeli forces, but would involve a force of about 2,500 Palestinian Authority (PA) supporters in Gaza who would be in charge of security after being trained by US officials. These words support the “cautious optimism” expressed by US national security spokesman John Kirby, who added that the distances between the parties could soon be overcome because negotiations were “going in the right direction.”