AVH staff wait outside the Kerem Shalom checkpoint for patients to leave Gaza. Photo: AVH/LWF Jerusalem
Doctors and nurses from Augusta Victoria Hospital provide support for largest evacuation since outbreak of conflict
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has been supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health with the largest evacuation of sick and severely injured patients from Gaza since the current conflict started last October.
At the end of July, 85 patients were driven from Gaza to Ramon airport in the south of Israel, from where they departed by plane to the United Arab Emirates. They included 50 adults and 35 children, accompanied by family members and other caregivers, as well as a team of 3 doctors and 4 nurses from the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem which is owned and operated by the LWF.
A patient is taken in a wheelchair to buses that drive evacuees from Gaza to Ramon airport. Photo: AVH/LWF Jerusalem
AVH staff were asked to support the United Nations’ evacuation effort because of their experience in coordinating the transport of patients from Gaza to the hospital prior to the start of the conflict. The hospital, which specializes in cancer and diabetes care, serves over 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Located on the Mount of Olives, it is part of the East Jerusalem Hospital Network.
We believe and will continue to advocate for Gaza cancer patients to be referred back to AVH.
Dr Fadi Atrash, CEO of August Victoria Hospital
Following identity checks, patients were authorized to leave Gaza and board buses waiting at the Kerem Shalom checkpoint. Pediatrician Dr Nasser, a member of the AVH support team, reported that the medical staff were not allowed to cross into Gaza to help patients. He said he was shocked to hear “heavy bombardments, at least four times, and to see smoke close to the crossing.”
Among those evacuated were patients who had attended appointments at AVH before the conflict escalated. They included a woman with pancreatic cancer, a 14-year-old boy with leukemia and a woman with breast cancer. Another young patient was a 13-year-old boy with a leg fracture in a wheelchair, travelling alone as his father was in Jenin and his mother was in Oman with another injured sibling. A younger sister and an uncle had been left behind in Gaza.
The evacuation of patients from Gaza took place amid tight security. Photo: AVH/LWF Jerusalem
Dr Nasser said that almost all the patients showed signs of shock and trauma, speaking about “their loss of homes, parents, siblings and other relatives,” as well as the uncertainty of not knowing where they were headed or whether they would be able to return to Gaza. “They all worry about leaving family members behind,” he said, “asking if they will be safe, if they will ever see them again.”
Dr Fadi Atrash, CEO of the August Victoria Hospital, expressed satisfaction for the successful outcome of the evacuation. “We were pleased that we helped our patients to get access to their much-needed treatment,” he said. “Yet we believe and will continue to advocate for Gaza cancer patients to be referred back to AVH, the place and the team that they are familiar with and trust.”
