Foreign ministry says work under way to evacuate Jordanian medics 'trapped' in Gaza

AMMAN — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was closely following up on the situation of volunteer Jordanian doctors and nurses "trapped" in the Gaza Strip.

Ministry Spokesperson Sufyan Qudah told The Jordan Times that a group of Jordanian doctors, who volunteered to work at the European Hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, have been stuck since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt (on May 7).

"Efforts [were] underway to swiftly evacuate the Jordanian doctors back home," Qudah told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday.

President of the Jordanian Medical Association, Ziyad Zu’bi, said that six or seven Jordanian doctors are still in Gaza, adding that the syndicate has contacted the Egyptian authorities for assistance in this matter.

He said that the Jordanian doctors in Gaza went there through international organisations and not through the association.

Last week, health ministry in Gaza announced that the European Hospital, one of the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, had run out of fuel for its generators, which resulted in the hospital inability to operate essential machinery, including life-saving respiratory machines, surgery wards, and emergency wards.

The ministry emphasised the dire consequences of the fuel shortage, adding that hundreds of patients and wounded Palestinians could die if essential medical supplies and fuel are not delivered to the hospital promptly.

The United Nations said that more than 810,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the start Israel’s long-threatened Rafah incursion in early May.