An urgent call to save the staff and patients of Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital

As I write, thousands of people in northern Gaza are on the move, attempting to escape the worst nightmare imaginable. Forced from their homes and temporary shelters, they are leaving behind everything they have known. The landscape of devastation is reminiscent of some of the worst conflicts in recent memory.

Northern Gaza, which is one-fourth of Gaza’s territory, has been under siege for 23 days. The nearly 400,000 residents who had remained there after a year of war face inhumane conditions as food, water and medicines have run out and aid is not reaching them. More than 800 people have been killed in three weeks.

The situation in Jabalia refugee camp, which has been the focus of the ongoing military assault, is particularly dire. Al-Awda Hospital, which is supported by Relief International, is the only partially functional medical centre in the area.

The facility has been struck three times in three weeks. Its upper floors and water system have been destroyed, along with its warehouse and pharmacy where critical medicine was stored. Last week, an ambulance carrying patients was hit, killing a woman who had just given birth, as well as her companion.

For the past five days, the facility has been encircled by armed forces, meaning neither civilians nor staff can get in or out. Inside, a total 163 people are trapped, including 24 patients in critical care, 31 others with their companions, and seven children. The surrounding area is inaccessible, and transportation is impossible without a ceasefire. I am extremely worried that the hospital will soon be stormed as we have seen with other health facilities in the past 24 hours.

Alongside the patients are 65 al-Awda staff. They are heroes who have shown incredible dedication – choosing to stay to help members of their communities in critical need. Since the start of the offensive on northern Gaza in early October, they have helped thousands of patients and performed hundreds of surgeries with the hospital crumbling around them.

Our shipments of medicine and equipment that were due to arrive at al-Awda Hospital this month could not be delivered due to the border crossings at Erez West and Erez Crossing/Beit Hanoon being closed.

After the horrors of World War II, the right to health was enshrined in the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization. Just a few years later, in 1949, the Geneva Conventions were adopted to protect civilians and essential infrastructure in times of war and occupation. These conventions explicitly prohibit forced transfers of civilians, regardless of motive, and demand protection for medical personnel and healthcare facilities.

Yet today, in Northern Gaza, these principles are being shattered.

Humanity must not turn away. This is a call to all parties in this conflict: protect healthcare workers and civilians, ensure humanitarian access, and halt hostilities near health facilities. This is also a call to third states to uphold international humanitarian law and demand its enforcement in Gaza.

This is not just a plea for justice, it is a desperate call to save the 163 lives trapped within al-Awda Hospital and countless others in northern Gaza. Relief International demands a ceasefire now.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.