El-Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital incident

El-Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital incident

At approximately 12:15 am, in the East male ward of the second floor of El-Wafa hospital, room number 204, two staff nurses were killed

PRESS RELEASE

El-Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital incident

Gaza, Palestine

At approximately 12:15 am, in the East male ward of the second floor of El-Wafa hospital, room number 214, two staff nurses were killed. Abd Al-kareem Lobbad (21 years of age) and Omar Hassan (21 years of age), were shot dead by a single bullet through a plexiglass window from an IDF soldier. Mohammed Abu-Riyalla who helped with this deposition was also present in the room at time of incident. The IDF soldiers occupied a residential building across the street and the incident took place after the occupation of the building. Omar Hassan died immediately. Abd Al-Kareem Lobbad died on the way to Shifa hospital in Gaza. They were both transferred to Shifa hospital. From the location were the soldiers took action and shot at the hospital, there is a clear, big sign in Arabic and English, stating that this building is a hospital. There’s also a sizeable flag, stating that this building is a hospital. Both the flag and the hospital sign can be seen from 400 meters away. The Red Crescent society informed all staff at hospital to evacuate the hospital so that the number of casualties would stay low to which they all refused. The number of staff in the evening are much fewer than during the day time and staff who wanted to assist all others in the hospital were refused entry by the IDF.

After the shooting incident, the IDF soldiers surrounded the hospital until 3:30 am at which point they withdrew. A house was also shelled with apache helicopters and demolished approximately 70 meters from the hospital at 11:45 pm. Targeting hospital staff is a clear violation of Geneva Convention international law. There are two international staff, American and French nationals who currently work at El-Wafa hospital.

El-Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital

Gaza, Palestine

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