'We could barely walk,' sisters say after being ordered to evacuate northern Gaza's last major hospital

Sisters Hind and Heba Al-Hourani were being treated astatine Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital connected Sunday erstwhile Israel ordered everyone successful the gathering to evacuate successful the mediate of the night, earlier targeting the hospital.

"All of a sudden, [it felt like] everyone ran retired and was going to permission america behind," said Hind, 9, whose near limb had been amputated successful an earlier airstrike that besides near her sister critically wounded. "We ended up rushing to the street. We were scared."

Heba said erstwhile they got retired onto the street, they didn't cognize wherever to go.

"We were praying successful the streets, we could hardly locomotion oregon bash thing with our wounded legs," Heba said. "It was a precise hard situation, precise frightening."

Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, the past large infirmary providing captious attraction successful bluish Gaza, has been forced to adjacent aft Israeli strikes severely damaged its exigency department. The onslaught is 1 of the latest hits connected Gaza's devastated health-care infrastructure, and comes arsenic planetary humanitarian organizations say hospital supplies are moving out, with nary caller assistance entering the territory for much than 7 weeks.

Hind and Heba's aunt, Afaf Al-Hourani, said arsenic soon arsenic they were told to evacuate, they grabbed mattresses and tried to get the wounded patients retired of the building.

"The girls were screaming successful the streets … Hind was screaming, due to the fact that she was successful pain, truthful we enactment her onto her sister's mattress and pulled them onto the street," Al-Hourani said.

"We were calling connected others to assistance america propulsion them done the rubble connected the streets."

WATCH | Sisters among hundreds of patients evacuated Sunday:

Hospital closure means less urgent attraction available

Al-Hourani said different radical helped them scope the Red Crescent Field Hospital, astir 600 metres distant from Al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City, astir 1 kilometre away, wherever they were capable to get treatment.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas bid and power centre wrong Al-Ahli hospital, without providing evidence, an allegation it has utilized successful past strikes connected hospitals successful Gaza. Hamas has denied the allegations.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, said the informing to evacuate came 20 minutes earlier the airstrike. On Sunday, it called connected the planetary assemblage to intervene to "stop each kinds of attacks connected aesculapian and humanitarian institutions."

Gaza's Health Ministry said 1 patient, a girl, died during the evacuation due to the fact that unit were incapable to supply urgent care.

Fadl Naeem, manager of the Al-Ahli hospital, said its exigency section was treating astir 300 radical each day. Naeem said the hospital's laboratory and X-ray departments person besides been shuttered successful the aftermath of the attack.

He told CBC News connected Monday determination are plans to re-build, which could instrumentality weeks oregon months, but nary caller humanitarian supplies person entered the Palestinian enclave since Israel blocked the introduction of assistance trucks connected March 2, arsenic talks stalled connected the adjacent signifier of a now-broken truce betwixt Israel and Hamas.

Medical supplies moving critically low

Afaf Al-Hourani said her nieces' conditions worsened owed to the deficiency of medicine successful Gaza. Hind and Heba were critically wounded by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City that killed their member earlier this month.

"If the crossings were unfastened and [Israel] would let for medicine to beryllium fto successful for the wounded, past they wouldn't beryllium successful pain," said Al-Hourani.

WATCH | Sunday's onslaught connected Al-Ahli infirmary leaves hundreds of patients needing treatment: 

On Friday, Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric told Reuters that aesculapian supplies successful the enclave are moving critically low.

"We are present uncovering ourselves successful a concern that I person to picture arsenic hellhole connected Earth.... People don't person entree to water, electricity, food, successful galore parts," Spoljaric said, informing that its tract infirmary is expected to tally retired of supplies wrong 2 weeks.

Dr. Hassan Al-Shaer, aesculapian manager of Al-Shifa Hospital successful Gaza City, said the installation received astir 50 patients who evacuated Al-Ahli connected Sunday.

"We person a constricted fig of beds present and a constricted fig of services," Al-Shaer told CBC News connected Tuesday. "It was precise hard to person them."

The hospital, which astatine 1 constituent was Gaza's largest aesculapian analyzable and cardinal hospital, has less than 100 beds disposable for patients, down from immoderate 700 beds earlier the 18-month-long war.

UN main 'deeply alarmed' astatine infirmary strike

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said helium is "deeply alarmed" astatine Sunday's onslaught by Israeli forces connected the Al-Ahli hospital.

"Under planetary humanitarian law, wounded and sick, aesculapian unit and aesculapian facilities, including hospitals, indispensable beryllium respected and protected," the UN chief's spokesperson said.

He said the onslaught dealt "a terrible stroke to an already devastated health-care strategy successful the [Gaza] Strip."

The Israeli subject has struck and raided hospitals connected respective occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas militants of hiding retired successful them oregon utilizing them for subject purposes. Hospital unit person denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and destroying its health-care infrastructure. 

On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike deed the bluish gross of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital successful the Muwasi area, sidesplitting a medic and wounding 9 different people.

The wounded were each patients and medics, and 2 of the patients were successful captious information aft the strike, said Saber Mohammed, a infirmary spokesman.

There was nary contiguous remark from the Israeli military.

More than 51,000 Palestinians person been killed successful the Israeli violative successful Gaza, Palestinian officials say. That includes much than 1,600 radical killed since Israel ended a ceasefire and resumed its violative past period to unit Hamas to judge changes to the agreement. 

Gaza's Health Ministry does not accidental however galore were civilians oregon combatants, but says women and children marque up much than fractional of the dead. 

Israel began its battle aft thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities successful confederate Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, sidesplitting 1,200 radical and abducting 251 arsenic hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Fifty-nine hostages are inactive wrong Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to beryllium alive.