In light of last night's events, a procedure to evacuate those injured in the Gaza Strip is required immediately.
Information received during the night, following the ground invasion, indicates that the movement of ambulances to evacuate the wounded and the independent evacuation of civilians from areas/homes under bombardment is impossible due to continuous and heavy fire in residential areas.
Last night at around 21:00, reports were received of damage to Al Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Sejaiya. According to media reports rockets were stored in a building near the hospital, which was bombed later. Inside the hospital at the time were 17 patients in serious condition (for whom evacuation presents a real danger to their condition), staff and international activists.
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I) and the B’Tselem warned in advance about their presence in the building but in spite of this, and after additional warnings to the hospital, the building was damaged. In this case, evacuation was eventually made possible following intervention and pressure from many bodies.
The full article continues at http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=190&ItemID=1966 on Physicians for Human Rights – Israel’s website.