The Israeli army denied claims that it ordered the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza to be evacuated, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement said that the hospital’s medical staff can remain in place and attend to the patients. Those who wish to leave the premises can do so through a secured route.
Earlier, the Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency reported that the IDF demanded doctors, patients and displaced individuals to evacuate from Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital within one hour.
Hundreds of people evacuated the hospital on foot on Saturday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene, after the hospital director said the Israeli army ordered the hospital to be emptied. The Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement 120 wounded were still at the facility, along with an unspecified number of premature babies, adding it was in touch with the Red Cross about the infants.
According to an Al Jazeera report, thousands of Palestinians who have been forced to leave the hospital are travelling to the south of the Gaza Strip.
(With input from AFP)
